- In search of the Bible truth
- Why believers do not believe the Bible?
- Important Bible Verses – Important Interpretations
- Predictions about Jesus
- Bible Numerics
- The First Seven Words of The Bible
- What Do Certain Numbers Symbolize in The Bible?
- The Concealed Mathematical Code of the Bible
- The Testimony of the Bible as the Word of God?
- The Bible Numerics Prove the Right Translation
- In search of the Bible truth
- About studying the Bible
- Is there in the Bible a divine code hidden?
- Which translation is best?
- Incorrect translations and falsifications
- God’s punishments that seem incomprehensible
- How did God instruct the Israelites to treat the nations they subjugated?
- The position of women
- Christ’s desire for unanimity
- Why did God give the world to Satan?
- Is it justified to seek guidance from the Bible in social decision-making?
- Is it right to refuse weapons based on Jesus’ teaching?
- Should people share their wealth with the poor according to Jesus’ teaching?
- Is it justified to condemn homosexual relationships and gay marriages?
- Is it wrong to charge interest on a loan? Should insolvent debtors be forgiven?
- Bible miracles
- Does the Bible accept homosexuality?
- Does the Bible say that some people will be saved and others will go to hell?
- The punishment of the lake of fire
- The second death
- Will all people be saved?
- Who is affected by salvation?
- Vessels of wrath
- Which one is winning, God or Satan?
- Is the punishment of the fiery lake (hell) eternal?
About studying the Bible
I began studying the Bible by reading the Bible. Then I also believed everything I read. I thought the Bible was the true word of God, word for word. Soon I came to know that it was not that simple. I will now share some of my experiences and observations.
It is not always possible to say straightforward what a word or expression means. For example, if a verse promises salvation. It does not necessarily mean salvation to heaven or otherwise eternal life in paradise. It may in the NT imply survival on the day of God’s wrath and entry into the Millennium of Christ. For the sake of certainty, it is good to read two pairs of translations of the Bible in parallel. Another example: What does ‘maidservant’ mean in Exo 21: 7 “This is the Hebrew word אָמָה ‘amah H519, which means handmaid, maidservant, maid bondwoman. One likely translation option is a female slave like some translations say frankly.
A Bible scholar will find that when he or she feels he has found the answer to a question, he will immediately find verses against it in the Bible. Examples can be found in this article as well.
Important note that someone taught me: Every word in the Bible is true, but not always literally true. In other words, much of the Bible is figurative expression. Now you need to learn to recognize when it is a figurative expression and when every word is literally true.
Figurative expressions: Eternal torture in a fiery lake, blackness of darkness, lampstand, seven stars, dragon, sharp sickle, etc.
In literal expressions, there is often a difficulty that the reader does not want to believe it. Still, he develops in his mind a version of it that the expression does not mean: For example: Yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, (1 Cor 8:6). Or: ”For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Tim 2:5)
I believe and know that in heaven, there is God the Father, Jehovah, and His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. The Bible does not say that all three of them are equally God persons, who together form the Triune God. Such a doctrine is an invention of the Catholic Church councils held 300-400 years after Christ’s death.
As you read the Bible carefully, you will find it in verse 1 Timothy 2:5. This verse says that there is only one mediator between God and man in heaven. It is not the mother of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, as the Catholics believe, but the man who has ascended to heaven. Paul wrote this after the death and resurrection of Jesus. He came to experience the power of Jesus. Paul could well have claimed that Jesus was God, but he never said that.
In addition to these two groups, there are verses in the Bible that do not quickly tell which group they should be placed in. One reason may be the old language of that Bible translation. Then you have to look at other translations, even study what the Hebrew or Greek manuscript text says word for word.
Difficult expressions include, for example, “God is love,” for instance, in 1 Joh 4:8: “He who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, for God is love.” What is the difficulty here?” Well, on that basis, one would imagine that God would treat all his creatures lovingly and protectively, and would not kill them in the thousands, tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands. Below are examples of God’s punishment.
Also, in the New Testament, Luke 3: 6. – All flesh means ‘all people’ or all humanity. What does ‘shall see the salvation of God’ mean? Does that mean everyone will be saved? Or does it mean that everyone can see who God is saving? Jesus Christ divides people into two groups; Mat 25:33 And he shall set the sheep [those who will be saved] on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Is there in the Bible a divine code hidden?
Is Ivan Panin right when he calculated the entire Bible containing a Divine Code? A correctly copied Bible repeats the code, but even a slight change breaks it.
Such code is included in both the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament. I have included in this website articles about the code. If translated into other languages, the code is lost, meaning the code is only in the original writings.
Code is based on the numerical values of letters. Each letter has a numeric value. Adding these numerical values gives a sum, and this sum is divisible by 7. Before long, the code of a word line is always divisible by 7. Dr. Panin found other codes. I can’t tell if the code will end when each Bible book ends and whether the code calculation will start again when the new Bible book begins. If the code does not actualize, there is an error in the text. In this way, Panin was able to prove which name is right, Junia or Junias. The old manuscripts contained both name versions.
By including such code in the Bible, God was able to make sure that there were no copying errors in the Bible. The code does not resolve the interpretation problems.
Ivan Panin did this code calculation and verification work for five decades. He was a devout believer, and I noticed that he was also a strong supporter of God’s Trinity. I deduced that he had added “himself God” in the Numeric English New Testament (NENT) that he had edited.
NENT: God no one hath ever seen; an only begotten, himself God, who is unto the bosom of the Father, HE hath declared him.
KJV 1789: No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
Most translations translate this verse like KJV.
The only way to solve the problem is to look at the original Greek text. There is no mention of “who is God himself” in the version I’m using, but maybe there is another manuscript that has this added. If it were genuine, it would be the only phrase in the entire New Testament that would prove Jesus is a God. To me, this is just a matter of a desperate attempt to find the Bible’s proof of the deity of Jesus.
Which translation is best?
There are numerous translations of the Bible in English. It is a good idea to check and compare more translations. Do you see the difference between the following translations of ASV and NLT?
Mat 5:12
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: (ASV)
12 Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. (NLT)
NLT promises that ” For a great reward awaits you in heaven,” which means believers get to heaven. Other translations say this way: “for great is your reward in heaven.”
ASV says that “your reward is great in heaven,” and the two verses of Revelation state that Jesus will bring the reward with him when he comes the second time.
Revelation:
11:18 The nations were angry, but your wrath has come. It is time for the dead to be judged and to reward your servants, the prophets, the saints, and all who fear your name, both unimportant and important, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”22:12 “Behold, I come quickly. My reward is with me, to repay to each man according to his work.
At this point, the NLT does not say clearly whether believers will go to heaven as soon as they die or when. The New Testament has told that Abraham and David have not ascended into heaven. This would suggest that Jesus is the only one in this respect. When Jesus promises to bring the rewards when He comes, I interpret it to mean that believers will not go to heaven to collect it. NLT translation reinforces the wrong doctrine. What does the Bible say about those who add their own to the gospel?
Incorrect translations and falsifications
The Bible is compiled from many manuscripts. Every effort has been made to find the most original manuscript, but no original manuscript has been found. For centuries, manuscripts have been reproduced. Now and then, there is a church scribe who adds his explanation to the margin. Some later readers think that the person who made the insertion had forgotten the sentence and so he adds it from the margin to the text itself.
Then there are deliberate additions or fakes. Of course, these authors also had a good intention of making the Bible text as God surely meant it. About such cases, I have written more in this article.
God has warned against adding or removing anything in the Bible text. Rev 22:18 ”I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to them, may God add to him the plagues which are written in this book.; 19 “If anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, may God take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book.”
Which translation is the best? The one that translates the original text as literally as possible, but in a way that is natural and easy for the reader to understand. The problem is that language changes. Old words are not understood. I, therefore, believe that if new words are used, it is good to mention it in a footnote.
Copyright law protects many translations. In this site bibeconcealed.com, I wanted to use a newer translation, as I was not happy with these older translations. I was denied permission. So, I have contented with the free-domain translations. Sometimes I have aggregated two translations and changed ‘ye’ to ‘you’ or changed Yahweh to Jehovah, to be consistent with the format.
God’s punishments that seem incomprehensible
It is hard to see why God allowed slavery in the Old Testament times, selling young girls as sex slaves, stoning raped girls to death. And so on.
Especially in the Old Testa there are Bible passages that are difficult for modern man to accept, even though God Himself is behind them.
2 Sam 6:6 When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen stumbled. 7 The anger of Jehovah was kindled against Uzzah; and God struck him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God. – Ussa’s reaction was undoubtedly instinctive. He was afraid that due to the stumbling of the bulls, the Ark might fall to the ground. Isn’t God supposed to study people’s actions for their willfulness before they try to kill man for punishment.
Exo 21:7 “If a man sells his daughter to be a maid-servant, she shall not go out as the men-servants do..
8 If she doesn’t please her master, who has married her to himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, seeing he has dealt deceitfully with her.
9 If he marries her to his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters.
10 If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marital rights.4 Moos 31:14 Moses was angry with the officers of the host, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the war. 15 Moses said to them, Have you saved all the women alive?
16 Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against Jehovah in the matter of Peor, and so the plague was among the congregation of Jehovah.
17 Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him.
18 But all the girls, who have not known man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.Moses was angry with the leaders of the army because they had not killed all the enemies. So Moses commanded to kill all the male children and every wife, but every girl had to be left alive “to yourselves.” (For what purpose?)
Deu 22:23 If there be a young lady who is a virgin pledged to be married to a husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her;
24 then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones; the lady, because she didn’t cry, being in the city; and the man, because he has humbled his neighbor’s wife: so you shall put away the evil from the midst of you.
25 But if the man find the lady who is pledged to be married in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her; then the man only who lay with her shall die:2 Chr 13:17 Abijah and his people killed them with a great slaughter: so there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men. 18 And the sons of Israel are humbled at that time, and the sons of Judah are strong, for they have leant on Jehovah, God of their fathers.
1 Sam 15:2 Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, I have looked after that which Amalek did to Israel, that which he laid for him in the way in his going up out of Egypt.
15:3 Now go and strike Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and don’t spare them; but kill both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.
15:8 He took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
Why did God do this? From the above verses, it could be deduced that God is full of jealousy and violence. Genesis 18:21 tells of Sodom and Gomorrah: I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come to me. If not, I will know.”– Haggling began, and Abraham said, 18:23 “Abraham drew near, and said, “Will you consume the righteous with the wicked?” Abraham suggested that God would save the city if there were fifty righteous. Was not found. In the end, God promised to spare the city if there were even ten righteous. Was not found. Recent archaeological research shows that Sodom was, in the circumstances of that time, a big city, of which only Lot was righteous, and God saved his family from destruction.
”Jehovah searches all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts.” (1 Chr 28:9).
God ordered the Canaanites to be destroyed so that Israel could take their land. The Canaanites made sacrifices by burning small children to their gods. Joshua 9:24 “And they answered Joshua and said, Because it was certainly told thy servants how that Jehovah thy God commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you; and we feared greatly for our lives because of you, and did this thing. 25 Now, behold, we are in your hand: as it seems good and right to you to do to us, do.” – However, God saved them from the hands of the Israelites so that they did not kill them.
Deu 9:5: Not for your righteousness, or for the uprightness of your heart, do you go in to possess their land; but for the wickedness of these nations Jehovah your God does drive them out from before you, and that he may establish the word which Jehovah swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 6 Know therefore, that Jehovah your God doesn’t give you this good land to possess it for your righteousness; for you are a stiff-necked people.
32:4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect, For all his ways are righteousness; A God of faithfulness without deceit, Just and right is he.
We do not always understand what and why God does as he does. Jehovah searches all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts (1 Chr 28:9).
How did God instruct the Israelites to treat the nations they subjugated?
The Old Testament is full of violence, where enemies of God’s people are being killed in thousands, tens of thousands, even half a million, men, women, and children. God’s priests blamed the soldiers for leaving some of the people alive or not killing the best sheep. Young girls were taken as sex slaves. They were not respected or loved in their own homes as they are in the moral behavior demands today; Lot even offered her two daughters to the crowd, which tried to invade Lot’s house to practice homosexual contact with Lot’s guests.
1 Sam 6:19 He struck of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of Jehovah, he struck of the people fifty thousand seventy men; and the people mourned, because Jehovah had struck the people with a great slaughter. – God killed fifty thousand people because they had looked at the Lord’s ark. After all, the ark was not even in the most holy place of God’s temple. They were unaware that no one except the high priest could look at the Lord’s ark once a year.
How could I understand or explain such a different moral behavior? I can’t question the entire Old Testament. If it were a single verse, then perhaps I would say that it is a fake. Now, however, there are dozens of verses in many books.
How could I understand or explain such a different moral behavior? I can’t question the entire Old Testament. If it were a single verse, then perhaps I would say that it is a fabrication. Now, however, there are dozens of similar verses in many books.
The position of women
In the Old Testament times, own daughters could be sold into slavery, even without the possibility of liberation, contrary to the practice of male slaves. Women and children captured in the war were not spared. The exception seems to have been young virgin girls who were urged to save for the winners’ own needs, i.e., as sex slaves.
In modern society, we generally look at the New Testament in many ways to gain an understanding of God’s and Christ’s views on various sectors of society.
The relationship between man and woman in marriage is instructed in Ephesians:
Eph 5:22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands, as to the Lord,
23 For the husband is the head of the wife, and Christ also is the head of the assembly, being himself the savior of the body.
24 But as the assembly is subject to Christ, so let the wives also be to their own husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the assembly, and gave himself up for it;However, a man is clearly “wife’s head”, yet a man must love his wife. And then, how were the wives to behave in church meetings?
1 Cor 14:34 instructs:” let your wives keep silent in the assemblies, for it has not been permitted for them to speak; but let them be in subjection, as the law also says. 35 But if they wish to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is a shame for a woman to speak in assembly.
Isn’t it the purpose that the Bible guidelines are still valid today? Not. It seems that in today’s society, Bible guidance is superseded by the laws of society.
Such Bible guidance was still in place a 100 years ago. The man controlled his wife’s property, and the women had no voting rights. Quite soon after women gained the right to vote, their position with respect to their men became more equal. Women also had access to universities. Nowadays, women can become priests and do not “need to remain silent in the church.” This is how it is in the Western and Christian countries. This is not the case, for example, in Islamic societies.
The crucial question is: Are the Biblical guidelines for the relationship between a woman and a man intended to be valid even in today’s society? Didn’t Paul, who wrote the instructions quoted above, see the future? However, there was a great leap from the time of the Old Testament to the time of Christ, which we are pleased with. What about the jump that has taken place from the time of Christ to the present? Can’t we accept that too?
After all, Paul did not explicitly explain why he emphasized the importance of love in marriage. Yet the change he proclaimed has been remarkable, for example, over the last hundred years. It concerns the society in many ways beyond the role of women not only in the ecclesiastical sense alone.
Peter said, Act 5:29, ”But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.” This is because the word of the Bible is the Word of God and was last proclaimed by Jesus Christ and his apostles, who received their last instructions from the Holy Spirit.
The government determines the legislation in each country. These legislators may be believing people, but as a rule, they are in no way dependent on the Word of the Bible. In many countries, there is debate, no longer about women’s voting rights or the right to control their property, but about women’s priesthood. Paul believed that women should remain silent in the church. However, many women in the Bible were already prominent in the church during Paul’s time.
“We must obey God rather than men!”
Christ’s desire for unanimity
Joh 17:11 … that they may be one, even as we are.
Joh 17:21 that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me.
Rom 12:16 Have the same respect one for another, not minding high things, but going along with the lowly: be not wise in your own eyes:
1 Cor 1:10 Now I beg you, brothers, through the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
Fil 2:2 Then make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.Jesus hoped that believers would be one when he left. Is this possible when Christianity is divided, and Catholic-led ecumenism is not united by doctrine, but Catholic domination seems to be the goal. Every church believes they have the way, truth, and life that Jesus has proclaimed, but what would prove that? Does any church have it?
More ‘why’ questions
Why did God give the world to Satan? Why does God allow Satan to overcome?
Adam and Eve had fallen, led by Satan, to sin and to act contrary to God’s command. As a punishment, God expelled them from Paradise. What did God do to Satan, to that high-class and glorious princely angel? God gave the kingdom of the world to him! Why did God do this?
Although Satan tempted Adam and Eve to sin against the will of God, Satan still had access to the throne of God, as did other high-ranking angels. Why didn’t God immediately punish Satan? After Adam and Eve were expelled from God’s Paradise, a fierce battle for the world rule began. God, who knows and sees the future in advance, had seen man fall into sin long before this event. Therefore, even before the creation of the world, God had decided to send his son into the world to redeem the debt of humanity. He had also foreseen and determined Jesus’ assistants, the apostles, and many others who would be his son’s co-workers.
In this and many other articles, I have observed how Satan is progressing in his victory. When I told this opinion to a representative of a church, I saw his disbelief. The world’s population is growing at an ever-increasing rate, but the Christian believers in the population is steadily declining. However, Satan never gets his final victory. The Second Coming of Christ and the associated fierce anger of the Lord’s Day and the struggle of Christ’s forces against Satan culminates in the binding of Satan for a thousand years.
What is God’s purpose in allowing this to happen? Study the Bible!
Ask God for understanding and wisdom to interpret the events of time. Read and compare the scriptures in the Word of the Bible.
Is it justified to seek guidance from the Bible in social decision-making?
Is it justified to oppose divorce by invoking the word of Jesus?
Mar 10:6 But from the beginning of the creation, ‘God made them male and female.
7 For this cause a man will leave his father and mother, and will join to his wife.
8 and the two will become one flesh,’ so that they are no longer two, but one flesh.
9 What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”
10 Back in the house, the disciples asked him about this again.
11 He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife, and marries another, commits adultery against her.
12 If a woman herself divorces her husband, and marries another, she commits adultery.”Is it right to refuse weapons based on Jesus’ teaching?
Mat 5:43 You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.’
44 But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you,Even the Israelis waged wars against pagan nations to claim their land in the land of Canaan.
Already Isaiah prophesied: 2:4 He will judge between the nations, And will decide concerning many peoples; And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning-hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war any more. – That must be so, but it shall come to pass at the end of days (v. 2:2), when the day of the Lord comes.
When Jesus took his disciples to a place called Gethsemane before he was betrayed and arrested by soldiers, one of the disciples struck a sword on a high priest’s servant. Mat 26:52 “Then Jesus said to him, put your sword back into its place, for all those who take the sword will die by the sword.” – The sword was a real sword, but ‘sword’ is also a figurative expression of violence. In today’s language, the appropriate expression would be: “Anyone who uses arms also becomes a victim of arms.”
Was Jesus’ message only for the apostles? Not for sure, but for all humankind as a code of conduct. Almost 2,000 years after the event, humanity still does not follow the teaching of Christ; Those who follow Jesus’ instruction and refuse military service often have to settle their “crime” in prison.
Jehovah’s Witnesses are perhaps the most well-known Christian denomination in the world today, which refuses all military service and suffers the consequences. “They are not of the world even as I [Jesus] am not of the world” (John 17:16)
Paul’s instruction is in Rom 13:1-2: “Let every soul be in subjection to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those who exist are ordained by God. 2 Therefore he who resists the authority, withstands the ordinance of God; and those who withstand will receive to themselves judgment.”
Should people share their wealth with the poor according to Jesus’ teaching?
Luuk 18:18 A certain ruler asked him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
18:22 When Jesus heard these things, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have, and distribute it to the poor. You will have treasure in heaven. Come, follow me.”
Jesus said according to Mark 12:44 “For they all gave out of their abundance, but she, out of her poverty, gave all that she had to live on.”– The rich could put a large amount of money into the treasury without affecting their daily lives. The two coins of the poor widow were her last money. The widow’s sacrifice was more valuable because she sacrificed all her money.
Jesus suggested to a rich ruler that he should sell his property and give the money to the poor. Peter said they had given up everything they had. Jesus promised that everyone would “receive many times more in this age – and in the age to come, eternal life.” (Luke 18). – Many ‘saints’ have been such poor.
Mat 6:21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 6:20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves don’t break through and steal;
It is in the will of God for a person to help those in need. One should not collect money and possessions on earth, but, according to Matthew’s instructions, collect for himself treasures in heaven; these are faith and good works.
Luther’s doctrine included emphasizing faith and grace, and the deeds were irrelevant to salvation. The letter of Jacob exemplifies the relationship between faith and deeds: 2:18 ”Yes, a man will say, You have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.”
From this, we can also deduce the significance of acts of faith. I have concluded that according to the Bible, deeds are at least as important as faith. A few verses to testify:
Rom 2:6 who “will pay back to everyone according to their works:”
2 Cor 11:15 It is no great thing therefore if his [Satan’s] ministers also masquerade as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.
1 Pet 1:17 If you call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judges according to each man’s work, pass the time of your living as strangers here in reverent fear:
Jam 2:22 You see that faith worked with his works, and by works faith was perfected;
Rev 20:12 I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and they opened books. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Is it justified to condemn homosexual relationships and gay marriages?
It’s not long since homosexual intercourse was punishable by law. There are many in the Church who accept the Bible forbidding same-sex relationships.
Lev 18:22 And you shall not lie with a male as one lies with a woman; it is a perversion.
23 You shall not lie with any animal to defile yourself with it; neither shall any woman give herself to an animal, to lie down with it: it is a perversion.
24 Do not defile yourself with all these, for with all these the nations have been defiled, which I am casting out before you;
29 For whoever shall do any of these abominations, even the souls that do them shall be cut off from among their people.Lev 20:13 If a man lies with a male, as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
When God decided to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, the strong cause was the homosexuality practiced in these cities. Genesis 19 tells how two angels of the Lord came to meet the righteous Lot. The city’s violent homosexuals insisted on having sex with Lot’s guests, and a terrified Lot offered them two young daughters. This report gives us an idea of how badly the men of Sodom were sexually perverted. Another appalling observation is Lot’s indifferent attitude towards the rape of his own daughters.
Is it wrong to charge interest on a loan? Should insolvent debtors be forgiven?
Currently, Western countries have exceptionally low interest rates. 0-interest rates are typical. Naturally, banks will charge the loan under some other heading. For mortgage debtors and governments, zero interest rates are a great relief. Many may think that the time of high-interest rates, coupled with inflation, was excellent. Then the value of the debt, for example, the actual amount of the mortgage loan decreased, as prices and wages increased.
Should the economy be organized following with the jubilee ordinances of the Jews from God? Were these rules originally intended only for the Jewish community? Wouldn’t they be useful in today’s society as well?
God ordained the commandments of the people of Israel on Mount Sinai (Leviticus 3):
The purpose of the Jubilee Year was to allow the country to rest for one extra year in the seven-year cycle of sowing and sabbaticals. The Jubilee Year was also significant for the Israeli distribution of wealth. Each family had ownership of their land. If someone had sold their property because of financial distress, the land returned to his family after 49 years, a year of jubilee. Detailed guidance on debt settlement is given in the reference chapters.
When the people of Israel came to the promised land and started farming, they had to cultivate the land and harvest it for six years and let the land rest for the seventh year. Every seventh year was the Sabbath in honor of the Lord. Farmers picked no grapes during that time. The land was allowed to rest. Whatever grows on a field without being planted on it could be used.
This was to be done for seven sabbaths of years, 49 years. When it was fulfilled in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, the trumpet was to be played on the day of Atonement. (By the way: I have put Jesus’ birth date for this Day of Atonement. Jesus’ birthday is said to be the 25th of December, but the whole of Christmas is based on the desire to replace the pagan Saturnalia celebration with Christian content. Jesus was the reconciler of the world, and for that reason, the Autumn Day of Atonement would be most appropriate not only for the time but also for its symbolic content.)
God ordered: (Lev 25):
25:10 You shall make the fiftieth year holy, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee to you; and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family. 11 That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee to you. In it you shall not sow, neither reap that which grows of itself, nor gather from the undressed vines. 12 For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You shall eat of its increase out of the field. 13 In this Year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his property.
God promised: “I will send you such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years. While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in.” (Lev 25:21-22)
25:36 Take no interest from him [an Israeli ‘brother’] or profit, but fear your God; that your brother may live among you. 37 You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit. 39 If your brother has grown poor among you, and sells himself to you; you shall not make him to serve as a slave. 40 As a hired servant, and as a sojourner, he shall be with you; he shall serve with you until the Year of Jubilee:
The instructions also included a prohibition on taking interest on the loan. Not only the enemy taken in the war, but also an impoverished Israeli could become a slave. He could sell himself as a slave to pay off his debt. Such a slave was released when the Jubilee began.
The instructions also included a prohibition on taking interest on the loan. Not only the enemy taken in the war, but also an impoverished Israeli could become a slave. He could sell himself as a slave to pay off his debt. Such a slave was released when the Jubilee began.
Bible miracles
Can I believe in the Bible, even if it contains the divine code described above? Some claims are said to be based on scientific knowledge that not all Bible accounts are true, or at least they are not written as they are claimed to be. The author is said to be someone else or someone unknown. Many believe that the Bible miracles cannot be accepted.
The miracles described in the Bible need to be believed. You can’t explain them. You cannot say that you believe in God, Jesus Christ, forgiveness of sins, and eternal life if you deny the miracles of the Bible. These include e.g.
-The birth of Jesus from the virgin when the Holy Spirit of God conceived Mary
– Jesus healed seriously sick people
– Jesus was raised from the dead
– Jesus appeared both spiritually and physically after God raised him from the dead
– God gave Jesus eternal life, and Jesus will give everyone who believes in him eternal lifeI am somewhat fundamentalist. I want to believe the word of the Bible. However, I have learned that a considerable large part of the Bible is figurative expression, which requires a different interpretation compared to the word for word understanding. I’m not such a fundamentalist that I would insist on believing all the Bible’s wonderful accounts as such.
For example, I believe in the flood. There are stories about the flood in many cultures. Instead, I do not believe in Noah’s account literally, as the Bible tells us. I do not understand how all thousands of animal species and millions of different insects would have been collected and taken to the ark. (The Bible does say that the animals went in the ark) All the animals that had the “spirit of life” had to be put in the ark because God intended to destroy all humans and animals. The explanation could be that the flood affected only part of the globe. The Bible’s view of the world was not the same as it is today. The “whole world” consisted mainly of the Roman Empire around the Mediterranean.
I accept that miracles have happened and are still happening. I have recently experienced a miracle or a miraculous event of God, which I have not been able to explain, and that goes entirely beyond the current scientific understanding. Jesus’ over 40 miracles are listed in this article.
Jesus’ first miracle was the conversion of water into wine in John 2: 1-11. The last one was the second massive catch of fish (John 21: 1-14). So Jesus made a vast amount of wine when the wine reserved for the wedding was finished. The miracle of Jesus also tells about his attitude to drinking alcohol. The wedding guests were already drunk on the wine they had been drinking and, like the drunkards, began to tumble for more drink. Jesus could have refused to make wine and could have said that the guests had already had enough. When he did not do so, it can be attributed to a tolerant attitude to the excessive consumption of wine, perhaps exceptionally, in the context of a big and joyous celebration.
Does the Bible accept homosexuality?
Mat 21:31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said to him, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly I tell you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering into the Kingdom of God before you. – Jesus’ contemporaries equated tax collectors to people despised by society, for example, harlots or prostitutes.
Truly I say unto you, the tax collectors and prostitutes will enter the kingdom of heaven before the self-righteous. (Mat 21:31) This English quote has arbitrarily added “before the self-righteous.” But that’s what Jesus probably meant. Those who consider themselves to be good Christians easily commit contempt for sinners, homosexuals, etc. they consider sinful. Jesus did not approve of their immoral conduct, but even less did the judgments of men. Luk 6:37 Don’t judge, And you won’t be judged. Don’t condemn, And you won’t be condemned. Set free, And you will be set free. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. – Therefore, Jesus said with some anger: be careful not to allow whores and homosexuals to enter the kingdom of God before you.
The Bible condemns homosexuality. Jes 3:9 “The look of their faces testify against them. They parade their sin like Sodom. They don’t hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have brought disaster upon themselves.” – The two angels of the Lord had come to Lot and were staying with him. Sodom ‘sodomites’ behaved insolently: Gen 19:5 And they called to Lot and said to him, Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.” NLT and WEB say plainly, “Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them!”
Rom 1:26 Paul warns: “For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. For their women changed the natural function into that which is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural function of the woman, burned in their lust toward one another, men doing what is inappropriate with men, and receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error.”
In the original text of 1 Corinthians 6:9, it clearly teaches us that homosexuality is a sin that practitioners cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 1 Cor 6: 9 contains two Greek words at the end of the verse (μαλακός malakos, and ἀρσενοκοίτης arsenokoites). Malakos means feminine man, sex between a young boy and an older man. Arsenokoites means a homosexual man lying with a man, sodomite.
1 Kor 6:9 warns: ”Or don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexuals.
Jesus said that the first shall be the last, and the last the first. He meant that those who were despised by society could, by faith, enter the kingdom of God and that moralists might be left in the queue. I do not know from which MSS one of the translations of the Bible comes the quote of Mat 21:31, that speaks of the kingdom of heaven. All the versions I have checked speak of the Kingdom of God, or βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ. The ‘kingdom of heaven’ has the same meaning, but I think the translation must also be literal. The “kingdom of heaven” can lead to the notion that people who are to be saved will go to heaven.
Does the Bible say that some people will be saved and others will go to hell?
For almost two thousand years, mainstream churches, as well as small sects, have threatened people with hell, namely, if they do not believe in the doctrine of the Church (for example, the creed of the Church). The suffering in hell, which has been portrayed in a very colorful way as a fiery furnace, has threatened the simple people of the Church for centuries. Listeners could not read the Bible themselves because it was the exclusive right of the priesthood, not least because, for over 500 years, vernacular Bibles were not available. Illiteracy remained a problem.
Much, much less are those churches that proclaim the opposite doctrine, universalism: God saves all. Then, there is the alternative that God does not save all, but that the very sinners will be destroyed entirely, that is, annihilated.
When you think about these questions, it’s good to be aware of a couple of essential things. Are you a prisoner of your church? Is the position of your church locked up so firmly that it cannot even be discussed? Or are things so well that your church even encourages you to explore and ponder various alternatives to various Bible passages? Today, one would think that the search for truth would be prompted. Shouldn’t every church be so confident in its doctrine that it would not have to prohibit its members from exploring other options?
Often, however, in practice, the situation is such that one has grown up in the doctrine of one’s own church from a young age. One doesn’t even feel the urge to look at divergent opinions. Church members may feel distressed and downright sinful. Here are a few Bible verses that tell about salvation and judgment.
All will be saved: Is God or Jesus Christ truly the savior of all men?
Isa 52:10 Jehovah has made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Luk 2:30 For my eyes have seen your salvation, 31 Which you have prepared before the face of all peoples;1 Tim 4:10 For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers. – How do you read and understand this verse? There are three essential things to consider. The living God, which is the savior of all people ωτήρ sōtēr. Does the living God mean God the Father or Jesus Christ? Second, this living God is the Savior of all people. Third, Believers are still in a particular position regarding salvation. Many also believe that Jesus is God, couldn’t he then be the “living God.” By searching the Bible for the phrase “living God,” we may be able to solve the question.
2 Cor 6:16 ” What agreement has a temple of God with idols? For you are a temple of the living God. Even as God said, “I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” – Jehovah God chose Israel as his people. Jeremiah confirms this: 31:33 ” But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” – Paul has linked this verse of the Bible with the living temple of God and the people of God. Jeremiah, among others, has confirmed that God’s people are Israel. In this way, we can conclude that Paul’s link with the living God was specifically Jehovah.
1 Tim 4:10 implied that all would be saved, especially believers. How should this be interpreted? It is easy to understand that all believers will be saved. If you read an article about God’s purifying fire, you will know how it can happen. But is it God’s purpose that all be saved? What significance would faith have then? Well, at least it would be much easier for believers to deal with the purifying fire. It would be more painful and time-consuming to deal with the most sinful infidels.
Is God going to save every person? Also, Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin, whose total deaths are likely to be around 100 million? Let’s look at a few Bible passages from the last judgment. From there, it can be concluded that the perpetrators are convicted to “hell.” Many claim that hell does not exist because the Bible does not use that word. The fiery lake and the eternal darkness depict the everlasting punishment of mere suffering.
The punishment of the lake of fire – the second death
Rev 19:20 The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked the signs in his sight, with which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
20:10 The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are also. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
20:14 Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 20:15 If anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.
21:8 But for the cowardly and unbelieving, and those having become foul, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all the lying ones, their part will be in the Lake burning with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.The lake of fire is the second death.
Rev 2:11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. He who overcomes won’t be harmed by the second death.
20:6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over these, the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with him one thousand years.
20:14 Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.The lake of fire is a figurative expression. Nor does the Bible’s expression “the second death” tell in itself what this death is unless you are content with Revelation 20:14 that the lake of fire is the second death. If the fiery lake is a figurative phrase, is the second also, because the Bible phrase that explains it is figurative?
So what does ‘second death’ mean? The first death is the one that everyone must face. The exception is those participants in the first resurrection who are alive on earth when the resurrection takes place. The simple explanation for ‘the second death’ is that it is the negative judgment of Christ’s last conviction. Christ divides the condemned into two groups; Mat 25:33 “He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.”
Matthew tells of Jesus’ final judgment:
Mat 25:41 “Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels;
42 for I was hungry, and you didn’t give me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink;
43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t take me in; naked, and you didn’t clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
44 “Then they will also answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn’t help you?’
45 “Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Most assuredly I tell you, inasmuch as you didn’t do it to one of the least of these, you didn’t do it to me.’
46 These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”Rev 14:10 he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. They have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.
Sodom and Gomorrah. Jude 1:7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them, having, in the same way as these, given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire. – It is clear the fire that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah is not eternal, but extinguished thousands of years ago. Therefore, the punishment of eternal fire does not apply to the cities themselves. Instead, those sexual perverts who have not yet received their last sentence will receive it in due course. God’s punishment will not come immediately after the transgression. Even the angels who fell “are kept in eternal chains in utter darkness, locked up for the judgment of the great Day” (Jud 1:6).
The Prophet Jeremiah conveyed God’s message to the Sabbath-breakers:17:27 “But if you will not listen to me to make the Sabbath day holy, and not to bear a burden and enter in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates of it, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.” – The Book of Jeremiah dates back to about 600 years BC. I can’t say if and when the fire consumed the Palaces of Jerusalem, but it is clear that the fire has gone out, that is, the claim that it is eternal fire is not the correct translation.
The big question is whether Jesus’ eternal punishment is the second death described above, the fiery lake. What sins cause eternal punishment? Jesus says in Matthew 25:45: “Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Most assuredly I tell you, inasmuch as you didn’t do it to one of the least of these, you didn’t do it to me.” For example, 25:43 “I was a stranger, and you didn’t take me in; naked, and you didn’t clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.” – An eternal punishment if one does not go to see the ill or the captive. Or if you didn’t take a stranger to your home. Or if you didn’t give clothes to someone naked.
It seems an unreasonable punishment. Here you have to study what the Bible says about salvation and then weigh up the opposing arguments.
Act 2:21 “It will be, that whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” – This salvation is not yet final. Salvation concerns the great destruction of the Lord’s Day. On that day, those who are saved will survive in the Millennial Kingdom of Christ, which will begin upon the second coming of Christ on earth.
Mar 10:52 Jesus said to him, “Go your way. Your faith has made you well.” Immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.” – The above applies.
Mar 16:16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who disbelieves will be condemned. – I have written a separate article on the significance of faith, baptism and deeds.
Luk 7:50 He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”
Jesus told his disciples the parable of the sower who sowed seeds. The disciples asked for an explanation of the parable, to which Jesus answered. Luk 8:10 “To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, but to the rest in parables; that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ 11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those along the road are those who hear, then the devil comes, and takes away the word from their heart, that they may not believe and be saved.
When reading these verses, I have always wondered; Jesus explained to his disciples what the parables meant and explained to them the secrets of the kingdom of God. Other listeners were only told parables, “so that, though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.” (Luke 8:10) – Why should ordinary listeners not know the kingdom of God and understand the word of God? Besides, the word that has entered their hearts, Satan will come and take it away. WHY does God act as if he sabotaged the spread of His Word in error-free form?
My interpretation is this: God does not want all teaching to be given in a chewed form. He wants people to work hard to find the truth. When the truth is found, and man begins to act upon it, Jesus explained (Luke 8:21) that those who hear and do the word of God are Jesus’ mother and his brother. Jesus also said, according to Mark: ”3:35 For whoever does the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.”
Act 4:11 He is ‘the stone that was rejected by you builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 There is salvation in none other, for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, by which we must be saved!”
Rom 3:23 for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God;
Gal. 3:22 But the Scripture locked up all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to the ones believing.Will all people be saved?
1 Tim 2:4 who [God] wants all people to be saved and to come to a full knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
Joh 12:32 And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” – Jesus promised that when he would get to heaven, he would draw all people to him. Previously, Jesus had said Joh 6:44 ” No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up in the last day.” – The drawing to God and Jesus is also accompanied by God’s calling. Rom 8:30 Whom he predestined, those he also called. Whom he called, those he also justified. Whom he justified, those he also glorified.
Rev 17:14 ”They will wage war against the lamb, but the lamb will conquer them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings. Those who are called, chosen, and faithful are with him.” – Just as God predestined Christ to save the world, God also predestined and called people to Christ’s ministry and co-rulers in his Millennial kingdom. This kingdom of Christ is, in my view, part of the kingdom of God, where its members are in the spirit body, but can also exist in the physical body, as Christ did while he was still on earth after His resurrection.
I interpreted salvation to be of two kinds; There is a small group of people who are being tried in their lifetime and will not be judged in the final judgment. They are saved for the first resurrection and reign with Christ for a thousand years. In the Millennial kingdom, people are in the physical body, and humans have not yet attained immortality. Another, a large group of those who are to be saved, receive a positive judgment after the end of the millennium and the resurrection of the dead. They will be saved in the paradise of God’s kingdom described in Revelation.
Rom 11:32 For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all.
What is meant by Paul, who uses the phrase ”God has shut up all in disobedience so that he may show mercy to all.”
All people have sinned and are continually sinning. It is human behavior to sin, and man cannot get away from it, at least not by his means. All are without the glory of God. Still, God wants all people to be saved (1 Tim 2:4) so that He may show mercy to all (Room 11:32).
The rest of Paul 11:32 is worth reading again: “that He may show mercy to all”
God’s purpose and will is to have mercy on all. Perhaps this slogan should have been written in red letters at the very beginning rather than in the middle of everything else. This is a Bible pearl, one of the many that just haven’t got the attention it deserves: … “and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.“ (Luk 3:6)
“And all flesh will see the salvation of God.” As Isaiah once said (40:5), “And the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of Jehovah has spoken.” – All will see the glory of God together, which is possible when all are resurrected to the last judgment. Luke adds to this “glory of God” the salvation of “all flesh.”
‘All flesh’ would be better translated ‘all humanity’ or all people. – If one reads only one verse from salvation, even this one, one can believe that indeed everyone (that is, every human being) will be saved. In the preceding verses, Luke speaks of John’s activities as he preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. His sermon also contained the message in the following verses: Luk 3:8 Then bring forth fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say within yourselves, We have Abraham as father. For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham out of these stones. 9 Even now the axe also lies at the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that doesn’t bring forth good fruit is cut down, and thrown into the fire.”
– John, the son of Zacharias, preaching the baptism of repentance, did not promise that all would be saved. He warned in his metaphor that if a man does not bring forth good fruit, he will be cast into the fire.
Jes 52:9 Break out, sing together, waste places of Jerusalem; for Jehovah comforts His people; He has redeemed Jerusalem. 10 Jehovah has bared His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. – In this prophecy, Isaiah said, “when Jehovah returns to Zion.” (v. 52:8). Then all nations will see how God saves Jerusalem. Not that all nations will be saved!
Joh 1:29: The next day, he [John the Baptist] saw Jesus coming to him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
– What does it mean for Jesus Christ to take away the sins of the (whole?) world? For sin is not just one sin, but the sins of the whole world are a tremendous amount of sins, small and great. What does the apostle John mean when he claims that Jesus Christ will take away all these sins? How can this happen? Does he make sins non-existent? As if they weren’t there? Or does it mean that he will forgive all sinners?
In the Old Testament times, the priest had to sacrifice the animal’s blood on the altar as a burnt offering, so that God could feel the burning and the sweet smell of the sacrificial animal ascend to heaven and forgive. During the New Covenant, forgiveness of sins is much simpler. It is enough to repent and beg Christ to forgive. Anyone can make such a request to Christ himself. There is no need for a mediating priest; Christ himself is the mediator between God and men. For he is the human to whom his father has given all power, even as he has.
However, one needs to take the initiative, repent, and apologize. However, there is one story in the New Testament about a great sinner and the persecutor of Christians. As a leader of armed guards, he traversed Israel and the surrounding region, capturing Christians and taking them to Jerusalem for detention there. Only one stroke of lightning was needed, and this Pharisee became blind for a few days. During this time, he had become the most faithful servant of Jesus and Christianity. His name was Saul, but he has become known as the “apostle of the nations,” Paul, the author of most of the Bible’s New Testament letters.
If Jesus Christ can turn the greatest of enemies in one lightning strike, is it not plausible that he can turn even the unbelievers of all humankind into his will? What was said in 1 Timothy 2: 4? God wants everyone to be saved!
Mar 3:28 “Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter”. – Does Mark mean that sins will be forgiven or that all sins can be forgiven?
In the previous example, Paul was forced to repent and never criticized Christ for it. Who would blame God for forcing a wicked sinner to repent and receive forgiveness of sins? People often mock others’ faith in God, but when a tight place comes, they are ready to receive God’s mercy.
John wrote in his gospel: 6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up in the last day.
45 It is written in the prophets, ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who hears from the Father, and has learned, comes to me.
46 Not that anyone has seen the Father, except he who is from God. He has seen the Father.
47 Most assuredly, I tell you, he who believes in me has eternal life.1 Joh 2:2 And he [Christ] is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world. – Jesus did indeed atone for the sins of the whole world. What does it require of people? John explains: 2:24 Therefore, as for you, let that remain in you which you heard from the beginning. If that which you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son, and in the Father. 25 This is the promise which he promised us, the eternal life. – People need to stand by the word of faith that they hear.
Who is affected by salvation?
Jesus, through his sacrifice, has redeemed the whole world. Does it only apply to those who believed in God? There are more than 7 billion people in the world. How many people have been in the world when you add up all dead people? Demographers have estimated that over 100 billion people have been born on Earth over time, according to one calculation, 107 billion. Population growth has recently accelerated.
I would venture to estimate that out of the over a hundred billion, 99 billion have never believed in Jehovah God or Jesus Christ. Does Christ’s promised salvation affect this overwhelming majority in any way? They are the whole world! They have worshiped many different gods, but they have not heard of Jehovah or Christ. Does the Bible say, “God wants all men to be saved” also applies to them? Or are they God’s “cheap vessels” created for cheap use?
The resurrection also applies to them. All resurrected people are subject to the final judgment promised in the Bible. Their names can hardly be found in the Christ’s Book of Life if these were condemned to be thrown into the lake of fire with Satan, the antichrist, and the false prophet, to be tortured there forever. Would it be right? Or if these ignorant sinners who do not know God, were annihilated i.e., destroyed without leaving any trace?
Vessels of wrath.
The Gentiles and their families, their lives, meant nothing to God in fulfilling His plan and promise to His people. They were just vessels of wrath for cheap use. This explanation follows from the following Bible verse: Rom 9:22 “What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath made for destruction.”
The English translation bluntly says, “vessels of wrath made for destruction.” The verse states that God has long suffered these Gentiles. Nowadays, it is considered that everyone should have dignity, regardless of language, nationality, wealth, etc. The Old Testament gives the impression that the Gentiles did not have the same dignity as God’s chosen people. Their lives didn’t matter. They served God’s purposes with their lives and deaths. Above, I wrote down the Bible verses, which, however, strongly suggest that God did not forsake them, but that God wants everyone to be saved and have mercy on all.
Which one is winning, God, or Satan?
In today’s world, everyone has somehow heard about God and Christ. I have been to high school eight years and, during those years, received teaching in the Christian faith. Yet many things have been ignored in school education. Only as an older man, I felt God call and began not only to read the Bible but also began to think about the doctrinal questions and problems it contained.
Few people know that God gave Satan control over the world. Satan offered it to Jesus, while Jesus was fasting in the wilderness. Jesus refused and sent Satan on his way. However, Satan did not discouraged but is still attracting people on his side. I can ask a question; who leads the race for human souls, Jesus or Satan?
If we think about the situation today, there are perhaps three billion Christians out of more than seven billion humanity. And most of these are nominal Christians. They have been baptized as a baby and may have received school instruction or attended Sunday school a few times. But they have no genuine faith. Jesus anticipates his Second Coming, saying in Luke 18:8, “… when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” – I do not know how many believers Christ will find, but of course, I believe that in the tribulation of the last days, many will cry out for Jesus – and according to Jesus’ promise – will be saved. However, the Bible tells us how many people harden themselves and, despite their plight, do not repent, but curse Jesus. If one billion out of seven billion people would prove to be believers and the rest would remain Satan’s, then this means that Satan will triumph. This applies both to people in the modern world and past generations.
In the final judgment, when Christ’s Book of Life is opened, six-sevenths of the people – if the above calculation is correct – will be denied. The Book of Life is a figurative expression of the information recorded about each person’s deeds and faith for the judgment of the last day. What kind of judgment do they get? Revelation says 20:15 “If anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.”
All the dead will be raised to the last judgment. Of course, those who are alive and have survived the tribulations of the Lord’s day, also participate in the judgment. Only participants of the First Resurrection, who have reigned with Christ as priests and kings in his Millennial kingdom, will not be “condemned with the world.”
Earlier, I referred to an estimate by demographers that there have been 107 billion people in the world at all times. If a hundred billions of people receive a negative verdict, a really vast lake of fire is needed where people are thrown with Satan, the Antichrist, and the False prophet. Many Bible scholars interpret the punishment of a fiery lake as an eternal, never-ending punishment.
Is the punishment of the fiery lake (hell) eternal?
It is necessary to find out the exact meaning of the word used in the Bible when speaking of ‘eternal’ union or ‘eternal’ punishment.
In the Old Testament:
Num 25:12 “Therefore say, behold, I give to him My covenant of peace; 13 And it shall be to him, and to his seed after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel..”
Everlasting, owlam H5956 (of future)
- for ever, always
- continuous existence, perpetual
- everlasting, indefinite or unending future, eternity
KJV: And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
YLT: the whole land of Canaan, for a possession age-during, and I have become their God.’ Note that Young’s Literal Translation uses age-during instead of everlasting.
Gen 13:15 for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever [owlam].
Jude 1:7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them, having, in the same way as these, given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire.
Generally, English translations say: Similarly, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire. YLT uses the expression ‘of fire age-during’ as in the previous example.
Owlam: You do not even need to interpret this Hebrew word because you know from history how it was understood and put into practice. More about it in my article.
In the New Testament:
Black Darkness or Deepest Darkness is the punishment that Judah 1 tells us which will face all the wicked for all their evil deeds they have done in their wickedness: These men are dangerous reefs at your love feasts, feasting without reverence, feeding only themselves. They are waterless clouds, carried along by the winds; autumn trees without fruit – twice dead, uprooted; Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.
Jude 1:13 wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever.
Here the Greek mss. uses the word εἰς αἰών, eis αἰών, which is translated differently depending on the case:
- for ever, an unbroken age, perpetuity of time, eternity
- the worlds, universe
- period of time, age
“… in this age or in the age to come.” (Mat 2:32)
“ … and the worry of the world” (Mat 13:22)
“… is the end of the age” (Mat 13:39)Rev 20:10 KJV And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (εἰς αἰών αἰών) YLT: they shall be tormented day and night — to the ages of the ages. – Since a simple αἰών can be translated ‘period of time’, word αἰών expressed twice is a significantly more extended period.
Luk 1:32-33 “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Compare: 1 Cor 15:24 Then the end comes, when he will deliver up the Kingdom to God, even the Father; when he will have abolished all rule and all authority and power.
Luke 1:32 states that the kingdom of Christ has no end. 1 Corinthians 15:24 again says that the kingdom of Christ will end when Christ hands it over to God, which means that the kingdom of Christ will be united with the kingdom of God.
When the Bible verse (2 Peter 2:17) speaks of black darkness (the blackness of darkness or gloomy darkness), which is a figurative expression of the state awaiting the final judgment, this wait is not eternal. In the final judgment, these angels also receive their punishment. They are judged by men, the co-rulers of Christ: 1 Cor 6: 3 “Do you not know that we will judge the Angels? 2 Pet 2: 4 “For if God didn’t spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus [Hell], and committed them to the pits of Darkness (or Deepest Darkness), to be reserved to judgment. ”
Wouldn’t the expression (εἰς αἰῶνα), which describes its duration, be figurative? And again, doesn’t this apply to other figurative expressions that mean “eternal” punishment, a fiery lake, etc.
Why have translations to hell, fiery lake, eternal punishment, etc. been so popular? With these penalties, intimidation has been a great way for churches to keep people uncertain about their salvation.
- Why believers do not believe the Bible?
- What does this article aim for?
- The doctrine of the Triune God
- What is God Jehovah (YHVH) like?
- God the Father and Jesus Christ our Lord
- Only the Father is God
- Is the Holy Spirit God?
- The renewing by the Holy Spirit (Tit 3:5)
- What is the human spirit?
- Doctrine of the two natures of Jesus
- What must a person profess to believe in order to be saved?
- Getting to heaven
- Man, the image of God – God, the image of man
- Questions provoking Bible Stories
The people of Israel wandering in the desert – God is concealed – God created the first man from dust – Mat 28:19 baptismal order – Jesus promised to return soon
.
What does this article aim for?
Millions of Christians believe in God. Faith is divided into many denominations and numerous sects. The truth is found in the Bible.
In this writing, I wonder that people do accept what priests say in their church, but do not accept what God, Jesus Christ, and the apostles teach in the Bible. Some may be outraged by my argument. The title of my writing is based on the observation that it has been surprisingly easy for churches to get church members to accept teachings that are not based on the Bible. I hope you, my reader, reflect on the content of your faith and strive to answer the questions I ask myself. The question is, who and what you should believe. I hope you answer: The word of the Bible.
The Bible is partly a revelation from God Himself. We know it if the word says like this, ‘this word of God came to me…’ However, the Bible contains most of man’s writing, not divine revelation. People’s work is flawed and involves mistakes and opinions, often contradictory. The word of the Bible is indeed difficult to understand and difficult to interpret in places. There are many of us explanators who serve many purposes. I do not serve any denomination. My goal is just to find the truth of the Bible.
There are thousands of denominations and religious communities. Their doctrines differ, but what they have in common is that everyone claims that their teachings are based on the word of the Bible. Not everyone can be right. So, I ask: What prevents you from finding doctrinal truth? Do you even want to find the truth? Is it more important to keep your own church or community upright than to find biblical truth? When not everyone can be right with their conflicting opinions, why not genuinely seek to find the truth in matters of faith? Even this writing of mine, many churches directly condemn to be Satan’s attempt to deceive believers.
What about the ecumenical movement, is its progress a good thing or a bad thing? I reply like this: it could be good, but it should be based on a commonly accepted doctrine and not on the dictation of the largest church (the Catholic Church).
Next, I will go through significant Biblical doctrinal questions, misinterpretations, wrong decisions of church meetings, wrong translations of the Bible, etc. I will not repeat everything I have already written about this. I highlight the core issues of my writings and ask my readers to think about them. Decide for yourself if the doctrine of your current church is in accordance with the word of the Bible. What should you do if you come to the conclusion that your own church does not follow the teachings of the Bible? Let me share my own opinion. It is this: small disagreements (if any) should be resolved by discussing and raising issues for doctrinal consideration. In big things (there certainly are), it is likely that the doctrinally oppressed church will not agree to change its position, but will insist that it has the truth in the matter. In that case, the Bible says, “Get out of it…”
The doctrine of the Triune God
Which do you believe more, the Bible or the Catholic Church to develop a doctrine two to three hundred years after the death of Christ?
On the development of the doctrine of the Trinity and the role of Emperor Constantine, one website writes: “The message of salvation was not the Trinity in the books and letters of the Bible, for faith in the Triune God as it is presented today, did not develop until a long time.”
God was first made two-in-one, with the Council of Nicaea convened by Emperor Constantine in 325. It became a three-in-one only after the Ecclesiastical Council of Kostantinopolis in v.381. At that time, the Holy Spirit was also made God. After that, the Trinity had also succeeded in gaining Christianity, when it was already present in pagan religions. Emperor Constantine succeeded in converting the pagan religion to Christianity, and by no means by bringing Christianity into the pagan religions. Even after that, he remained to be a worshiper of the sun-god and respected pagan symbols. Eventually, after his death (year 337), Constantine became one of the many gods of the Gentiles. Constantine, who strayed into polytheism, cared little for the words of the one God, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Deut. 5: 7, 6: 4).
The doctrine of the Triune God has become a traditional ordinance, as the Bible warns in Mar 7:13 “You are destroying the word of God through your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many other things like that.” – People, even believers, are not even interested in finding out. And if they find out what this doctrine is about, they will not dare to give it up for fear. it is easier to break away than from a small sectarian church. Even if one feels in one’s heart that some doctrine of the church is not right, the only thing that can be done is to leave and for a large part that step is too long.
What is God Jehovah (YHVH) like?
Jesus’ view:
Mar 10:18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except one- God.
A view disappointed in faith:
“The Old Testament tells of this service of idols without concealing it, openly. However, it does not say that Yahweh is not different from the gods of other nations, but is an idol like them: it does not exist. If it exists, then it is an unjust, biased, racist, discriminatory, oppressive, jealous, possessive, sadistic, violent, and murderous monster instead of being a good, fair, and righteous loving and heavenly father to all people. God is utterly unnecessary for the continuation of the cycle of life and death. If you think otherwise, then all evil is also caused by God: toxic organisms, parasites, beasts, accidents, disasters, and just about everything. Satan is not to blame for them, but the god of the Bible is if he were real. Are you serving him?”
Which one do you believe in? Wouldn’t Jesus be sincere in acknowledging the goodness of God the Father? Or did he also mean himself, as part of the triune deity? Probably not. Jesus never spoke of himself as God, not even as part of divinity.
As for myself, I have to admit I was thinking about why God created parasites, beasts, and venomous spiders all over the world. He also allowed ticks to cause troublesome diseases for some people. There are many different pathogens, especially in developing countries, completely unnecessary, even harmful; the devastated eat the crops of the poor and cause famine.
God chose the nation of Israel to be his people. 2 Sam 7:24 ”You did establish to yourself your people Israel to be a people to you forever; and you, Yahweh, became their God.”
Josh 24:19 ”Joshua said to the people, You can’t serve Yahweh; for he is a holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your disobedience nor your sins.
24:20 “If you forsake Yahweh, and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you evil, and consume you, after that he has done you good.” – Verse 20 explains why God is angry and does not forgive the sins of his people.
1 Sam 12:22 For Yahweh will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased Yahweh to make you a people to himself.
God would probably have had reason to forsake his people many times, but Samuel’s first book assures us that God will not forsake his people for his name’s sake. However, the events of the end times will afflict the people of God as well. The prophet Isaiah prophesied: Rom 9:27 ”Isaiah also calls out concerning Israel, although the descendants of Israel are as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore, only a few [remnant] will be saved.” While from the multiplicity of the people of Israel will be saved physically only a small part, I’m sure that at the last judgment, this mass destruction does not in itself affect the final salvation.
God made every effort to help his own people in the battle against the enemies. He even sent an angel to kill the enemies. As many as 185,000 people were killed by the angel. 2 Kin 19:35 ”It happened that night, that the angel of Yahweh went forth, and struck in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred eighty-five thousand: and when men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.”
Josh 10:11 ”It happened, as they fled from before Israel, while they were at the descent of Beth Horon, that Yahweh cast down great stones from the sky on them to Azekah, and they died: they were more who died with the hailstones than they whom the children of Israel killed with the sword.”
12 Then spoke Joshua to Yahweh in the day when Yahweh delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel; and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand you still on Gibeon; You, Moon, in the valley of Aijalon.”
13 The sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the nation had avenged themselves of their enemies. Isn’t this written in the book of Jashar? The sun stayed in the midst of the sky, and didn’t hurry to go down about a whole day.”God was, in effect, the own God of the Israelites. The Jews took great care not to interfere in the Gentiles’ customs, not even to eat with the pagans. Jesus also came to earth only for God’s own people. Mat 15:24 confirms: ”But he [Jesus] answered, I wasn’t sent to anyone but the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Reading the gospel, one thinks that the message is, of course, meant for the whole world. However, Jesus confirmed that God’s purpose was not to save the whole world. It was only after his resurrection that Jesus gave the command to take the gospel to all nations.
Tästä huolimatta kesti oman aikansa ennen kuin apostolit ymmärsivät tämän. Pietarin piti saada ilmestys Jumalalta ennen kuin hän viimein ymmärsi. Act 10:34 ”Then Peter opened his mouth and said, “Now I understand that God shows no partiality.” 10:45 “They of the circumcision who believed were amazed, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was also poured out on the Gentiles.”
For the first time in human history, the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Gentiles. I think this is a significant thing in terms of who will be saved. Most of human history has not even heard of Christ and the salvation He offers. What judgment Christ will give to those Gentiles who stretch out their hands and say, “We have not even heard of you. How could we have believed in you? ”
God the Father and Jesus Christ our Lord
Deu 6:5 ”and you shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” – Moses seems to have forgotten the Holy Spirit about this important exhortation. The Son of God is not mentioned for understandable reason.
On the New Testament side, a similar exhortation is recorded in Matthew 22:37 and Mar 12:30, repeating Deuteronomy’s command. Loving one’s neighbor (“You shall love your neighbor as yourself”) was considered more important by Moses and evangelists than loving Jesus and the Holy Spirit. (Lev 19:18, Mat 19:19, 22:39, Mar 12:31, Rom 13:9, Gal 5:14, Jam 2:8).
But oddly enough, none of the above evangelists exhort to love the Holy Spirit, although according to the doctrine of the Trinity, they are equal in power and dignity with God the Father. In the case of Moses, one understands the absence of Jesus, because Jesus appeared at that time at most in some prophecy. What might be the reason for the apostles not to mention the Son of God and the Holy Spirit?
Only the Father is God
1 Cor 8:6 ”yet for us there is only one God, the Father, from whom everything came into being and for whom we live. And there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom everything came into being and through whom we live.”
2 Cor 11:31 “The God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, he who is blessed forevermore, knows that I don’t lie.”
Joh 17:21 ”that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me.
1 Joh 4:15 ”Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him, and he in God.”
These verses are important. They testify that we have one God, who is the Father. He is also the God of our Lord Christ. The Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father. He confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
Something is missing from this. So, what is the role of the Holy Spirit? It seems that God the Father and the Son are the only and important ones for faith and salvation.
According to a misinterpretation of the Bible, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, was in heaven with God and participated in the creation of the world. Jesus is called the Word of God and is on that basis, God. The incorrect translation says: Joh 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
This emphasizes the divinity of Jesus; we all know that the “Word” means Jesus. Many years ago, I drew my attention to the rest of the verse, whose word order is incorrect. It has to be “and God was the Word.” This is such a simple translation matter that I do not believe in any way the error in question, but it is a deliberate incorrect translation. Why not all translations have been corrected for the correct word order, I do not understand. Of course, some have done so. Why has this happened? Perhaps the reason is that when Christ comes a second time, he is said to be: Rev 19:13 ”He is clothed in a garment sprinkled with blood. His name is called “The Word of God.”
My favorite, Bible verse 1 Cor 8: 6 says: ”yet for us there is only one God, the Father, from whom everything came into being and for whom we live. And there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom everything came into being and through whom we live.
The good question is, why did the Catholic Church develop the doctrine of the Trinity of God? This happened even though the Church had at its disposal the Old Testament, which clearly states that God was one and he alone created the world. Was a counterbalance to the Jewish view desired? Perhaps the most plausible explanation is this: the Catholic Church wanted to extend its power to the Gentiles. The Gentiles were familiar with the three gods’ concept, and Catholic leaders believed that the Gentiles more easily embraced the three-person deity.
However, one should not believe in human-made doctrines; it is even forbidden in the Bible’s word.
Is the Holy Spirit God?
One website proves that the Holy Spirit is a person and is sure that the Holy Spirit is God:
“The Holy Spirit is the third person of divinity. He is the perfect God in all things. In the Bible, the Holy Spirit is associated with all the same attributes and features as God. Therefore he is God himself: “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (Joh 4:24) and “Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (2 Cor 3:17).”
Is the Holy Spirit a separate person from God, or is the Holy Spirit part of God and the person of God? It is part of the doctrine of triune Deity that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are separate persons and each acting independently and equal in divinity with other persons. It is easy to believe that God the Father is a person and so is his Son, Jesus Christ. According to Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Holy Ghost is the working power of God the Father. The Son can also send this spirit to perform the duties assigned to it. According to Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Holy Spirit is not a person, much less God.
Although I am not a Jehovah’s Witness, I am quite inclined towards their view. I believe it is the power of God. This power is in and from God. It has the power of God and the wisdom of God at its disposal. It doesn’t matter if this spirit is said to be a person or not. In no case is the Holy Ghost equal to the Father or the Son. The fact that the Holy Spirit is written in capital letters is not due to the high position of the Holy Spirit, but to the fact that it is the spirit of the Lord God and that he carries out his duties in God’s name.
Jesus himself testified that God was greater than him. I believe it when Christ himself affirms this. So if the Father and the Son are not equal in divinity, then with whom is the Holy Spirit equal? With God the Father? If the Father and the Holy Spirit are equal, they cannot be equal with the Son but are superior to the Son.
According to the Bible, the Father and the Son send the Holy Spirit. Transmitting involves the assignment of a task to the Holy Spirit. It could be, for example, giving gifts of grace to different people. 1 Cor 12:8 “For to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom, and to another the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit;
9 to another faith, by the same Spirit; and to another gifts of healings, by the same Spirit;
10 and to another workings of miracles; and to another prophecy; and to another discerning of spirits; to another different kinds of languages; and to another the interpretation of languages.”The sender (Father or Son) sends the Holy Spirit and gives instructions to the Holy Spirit. For example, God the Father does not say: Go to the earth now and distribute gifts of grace to people there as you see fit. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God and full of the wisdom of God. On that basis, I can accept the independent action of the Holy Spirit, for example, in this way: “Go to Jerusalem on Pentecost and distribute the gifts of the Holy Spirit to those gathered there, to all who are ready to receive it.” And then the Holy Spirit, will come and give the gifts of the Spirit to three thousand guests gathered from different countries.
We can also compare angels and the Holy Spirit. God also sends angels to earth as his own representative. The angel performs under the authority of God and using the power given by God as if God himself were involved. According to my interpretation, the action of the Holy Spirit is very much the same as if God had sent his angel to perform the mission.
The renewing by the Holy Spirit (Tit 3:5)
3:4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love toward mankind appeared,
5 not by works of righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy, he [God] saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,6 which he [God] poured out on us richly, through Jesus Christ our Savior;
Verse 4 speaks of the manifestation of God’s love and 5 of God saving us (apostles, church members) through rebirth and the renewal of the Holy Spirit. Verse 6 adds that God poured out the Holy Spirit on the church through Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit is not the reformer, but “he,” God the Father. The Holy Spirit does his part as God pours out the Spirit through Jesus Christ. Glory to him to whom the glory belongs!
The Holy Spirit inspires the writing and understanding of the scriptures:
2 Tim 3:16 ”Every writing inspired by God is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction which is in righteousness, and 2 Pet 1:21 For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit.”
The Holy Ghost also plays an important role in my writings. Every time I go to write, I ask God to let his Holy Spirit guide my writing. I want to believe that this has happened. The situation is different compared to the prophecies in 2 Peter 1:21. I do not prophesy. God has not instructed me to tell what will happen. All my writings are based on the word of the Bible. If I were given a task from God to bring forth things that would happen in the future, it would probably be under the direction of the Holy Spirit.
1 Cor 2:10 says: ”God has revealed those things to us by his Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the deep things of God.”
What does this mean? Is the Holy Spirit, in fact, higher than God because it can explore all the depths of God (the deepest thoughts and mysteries)? The following verse speaks of the human spirit and compares it to the spirit of God: 2:11 ”For who among men knows the things of a man, except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God, except God’s Spirit.”
While still on earth, Jesus said that he did not know the day when he would come the second time. Only the Father knows that. To this can be added that the Holy Spirit also knows it, because the Holy Spirit is the spirit of God.
Act 16: 6 tells of Paul’s journey from city to city: ”When they had gone through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 16:7 When they had come opposite Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit didn’t allow them.” Verse 16 says that the Holy Spirit prevented (warned) the company from proclaiming the word on the Asian side. When they came to Mysia, Act says the spirit of Jesus prevented them. It is certainly the same spirit, with only two different names used. The most common name is the Holy Spirit, but the Spirit of Jesus is also spoken of here. The Spirit of Jesus because in this case, Jesus has sent the Spirit to protect them.
Act 20:28 ”Take heed therefore to yourselves, and to all the flock, wherein the Holy Spirit has set you as overseers, to shepherd the assembly of God, which he has purchased with the blood of his own.”
– The Acts of the Apostles states that the Holy Spirit would have made the disciples overseers of the Lord’s church, to shepherd the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at what is said at the end of the verse; “Which he has earned for himself with his own blood.” It is the blood of Christ, by the blood of which Christ has earned his church. The Holy Spirit must have been setting the leadership of the church in place, but it is not due to the Holy Spirit or the bloodshed of the Holy Spirit or his independent choice, but based on the commission of Christ.
My conclusion is that the Holy Spirit (or the Spirit of Jesus) does not act independently, but the Holy Spirit does as God and Jesus instruct when He sends the Spirit on the journey.
What is the human spirit?
I have compared the human spirit in his conscience, which examines human ‘depths’. If he has sinned, though concealed, a man knows it through his spirit. It would be strange if a person did not get to know what he has done. With these expressions, I try to explain my view of the (Holy) Spirit of God and the relationship between the Spirit and God. The Holy Spirit is submissive to God the Father, but in performing the duties he has received from the Father and the Son, he acts independently within the authority he has received. In doing so, angels are also called ‘gods’.
The Holy Spirit may be grieved. Efe 4:30, ”Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” Equally, Paul could have said, “Do not grieve God…” If someone has received the seal of the Holy Spirit as a gift and nevertheless commits a sin, he or she may grieve the Holy Spirit, or offend the mind of God, by his actions.
Gal 5:19-21 ”Now the works of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousies, outbursts of anger, rivalries, divisions, heresies, 21 envyings, murders, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these; of which I forewarn you, even as I also forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.”
Paul writes 1 Cor 12:7, But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the profit of all.
8 For to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom, and to another the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit;
9 to another faith, by the same Spirit; and to another gifts of healings, by the same Spirit;
10 and to another workings of miracles; and to another prophecy; and to another discerning of spirits; to another different kinds of languages; and to another the interpretation of languages.
11 But the one and the same Spirit works all of these, distributing to each one separately as he [God] desires.12:28 God has set some in the assembly: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracle workers, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, and various kinds of languages.
29 Not all are apostles, are they? Not all are prophets, are they? Not all are teachers, are they? Not all perform miracles, do they?
30 Not all have the gift of healing, do they? Not all speak in tongues, do they? Not all interpret, do they?
31 But earnestly desire the best gifts. Moreover, I show a most excellent way to you.Verse 28 shows that while Paul speaks of the influence of the Spirit, it is the work of God; ‘God placed in the church…’
In his letters, Paul sends greetings from God the Father and Jesus Christ, but not once from the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit were a person, he would probably be greeted as well. The Holy Spirit is not a person like the Father or the Son. The Father and the Son love one another, but neither has said they love the Holy Ghost.
1 Cor 1:3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Cor 1:2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Gal 1:3 Grace to you and peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ,
Eph 1:2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Etc.
1 The 1:1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the assembly of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 The 1:2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Not in the other direction either! Judas gives glory to the one God, their Savior, through Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is not mentioned.
Jud 1:25 to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.
The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, is the Spirit of God, of which the Father has seven according to the Bible. The duties given by God the Father and the Son are performed by the Holy Spirit. God created by His word (by giving a commandment), “God said,” and it was carried out by his Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit accomplished the creation of the world, commissioned by God the Father. It is not described in detail in the Bible, but it is mentioned how ”the earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep. God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters (Gen 1:2).”
When Jesus ascended to heaven, God the Father exalted him as Lord and Christ (position closest to God) and placed him on the throne to his right. Is the throne of the Holy Spirit to the left of God? The Bible says nothing about the throne of the Holy Spirit which means that the Holy Spirit has no command like the Father and the Son.
When did the Catholic Church decide to exalt the Holy Spirit to divinity? Apparently at the same time as the synod decided God was triune, that is, in the 300s. The Jews had only one God, the Father, whose name was Jehovah, Yahweh, or written in vowels as was customary, YHVH. The Holy Spirit does not have a proper name. There may have been a harsh reflection and exploration by the Catholic Churches to find a third person in the triune deity, the doctrine of which was developed within a few hundred years after Christ ascended to heaven. After all, the Bible does not even mention anything about the three persons of God or the trinity. That, too, proves the inaccuracy of the doctrine that the doctrine had to be developed for hundreds of years. The doctrine of God should have been in the Bible all the time.
Doctrine of the two natures of Jesus
In my understanding, the Catholic Church had no particular, compelling reason or compulsion to develop and adopt the Triune God doctrine. In the case of another doctrine, the situation was different; how would they explain to the members of the Church that their God is dead? It is clear to everyone that God cannot die. But Jesus Christ died. He didn’t seem to be God? In my understanding, the Catholic Church had no particular, compelling reason or compulsion to develop and adopt the Triune God doctrine. In the case of another doctrine, the situation was different; how would they explain to the members of the Church that their God is dead? It is clear to everyone that God cannot die. But Jesus Christ died. He didn’t seem to be God?
According to the doctrine, “Christ is both true man and true God. Christ is fully divine and fully human, and both “one and the same” (Gr. heis kai ho autos). These two natures are in him “without mixing, changing, dividing, and separating.” After Jesus’ death, a doctrinal brawl began about the nature of Christ. Whether he was only a human being (the perception of the Ebionites), or a purely divine person appearing to be only a human being (a conception of Docetism), or whether they were right who rejected the true humanity of Christ (adaptationists).
We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach people to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man, of a reasonable [rational] soul and body; consubstantial [co-essential] with the Father according to the Godhead, and consubstantial with us according to the Manhood; in all things like unto us, without sin; begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, according to the Manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, only begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; (ἐν δύο φύσεσιν ἀσυγχύτως, ἀτρέπτως, ἀδιαιρέτως, ἀχωρίστως – in duabus naturis inconfuse, immutabiliter, indivise, inseparabiliter) the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person (prosopon) and one Subsistence (hypostasis), not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten God (μονογενῆ Θεόν), the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ; as the prophets from the beginning [have declared] concerning Him, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has taught us, and the Creed of the holy Fathers has handed down to us. (Wikipedia)
Thus, more than four hundred years passed from the death of Christ before a creed was formulated in Chalcedon, signed by 500-600 bishops. According to it, the Son, the Logos of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, is “perfect in divinity and perfect in manhood, truly God, and truly man.
What does the Bible say about Jesus? He is the Son of God, whom God has made Lord and Christ. He suffered death on the cross to redeem mankind’s sinful debt. He rose from the dead to heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. The Father has given him all power, both in heaven and on earth. Jesus Christ, the man, acts as a mediator between God and man.
You don’t have to know the confession of Chalcedon. And you don’t have to believe it. Or preferably not.
What must a person profess to believe in order to be saved?
Churches respond that Church members should acknowledge their acceptance of the belief in the Triune Deity. My own belief says that a Christian should profess to believe as required by the Bible.
Rom 10:9 If you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Rom 10:13 For, Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Act 16:31 They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.
Joh 3:36 The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who disobeys the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.
Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Joh 17:3 For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Joh 20:31 But these have been recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, and so that through believing you may have [eternal] life in his name.
1 Joh 4:15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him, and he in God.
What does salvation mean?
Ultimately, salvation means having eternal life and living in God’s New World, as God’s co-worker. Before that, salvation means survival in the day of the Lord. It is described by the prophet Joel.
Joel 2:28 “It will happen afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; And your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions.
29 And also on the servants and on the handmaids in those days, I will pour out my Spirit.
30 I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood, fire, and pillars of smoke.
31 The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.Joel 2:32 It will happen that whoever will call on the name of Yahweh shall be saved; For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as Yahweh has said, and among the remnant, those whom Yahweh calls.
I’m sure the above verses make it clear. You must believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, our Lord, raised from the dead by God the Father. If you believe this, then you will be saved. You don’t have to believe obscure doctrines of God’s trinity. There is no need to clarify the relationship between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. It is enough that you believe Jesus is Lord and Christ, Son of God almighty.
Joh 14:6 ”Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.”
Salvation is a twofold term: first, salvation means for God’s elect access to the first resurrection. The ascended rise to the “clouds” against Christ to participate in the reign of Christ’s Millennial kingdom with Christ. The second group is those who “escape” the great destruction in the day of the Lord. The angels gather the Christ’s own to Jerusalem and Mount Zion. Those that escape will also be sent to preach to the Gentiles who haven’t even heard of Christ. The third group, apparently the largest, is the group of resurrected people gathered at the end of time for the final judgment. There Christ will judge all. The word believe was repeated in the above verses. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Son of God will be saved.
God’s fire burns away man’s sins. God’s fire can be consuming or cleansing. Consuming fire means destruction. God’s consuming fire can destroy even a large army by coming from heaven. The cleansing fire, in the context of the Last Judgment, burns out the sins of those people who have built their ‘house’, that is, their faith in Christ, at least to some extent. As I wrote above, it is enough to believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Naturally, those who lived before the time of Christ could not believe in Christ. For them, faith in one God is enough. There is no added value in believing in the Triune God.
You can tear down creeds such as the Creed of Athanasius. You will be threatened with them and warned of losing salvation if you do not believe everything the synod has decided. Which do you believe in more, the Catholic church meetings or the clear word of the Bible?
For salvation, you don’t necessarily need to know anymore. You will be saved if you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Getting to heaven
“Good, God-fearing people will go to heaven after they die, and sinners will perish (i.e., hell). Many believe that they will reach heaven immediately after death. Others believe that after the last verdict. ” In this way, the prevailing notions of access to heaven could be formulated.
This is not biblical. In my view, at least the evangelical churches do not even teach good people to get to heaven after death, but they also do not correct misconceptions.
According to the Bible, the Gospel of John clearly says 3:13 ”No one has ascended into heaven, but he who descended out of heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven.” – The only exception is Jesus Christ. Could it be that with the death of Jesus, ascension to heaven was liberated? No such change is reported in the Bible. Besides, the Bible does not even promise that believers will get to heaven at all after death. After all, God is coming to earth, to the New Jerusalem. Why then would people crave access to heaven?
Rev 21:2, ” I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready like a bride adorned for her husband. 3 I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with people, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
Let us take a closer look at the issues involved. If the “good ones” get to heaven after death, do they need to return from there to earth to participate in the final judgment? If that were the case, and if it still happened that the Last Judgment would not be positive, such people would surely have to face the punishment imposed by Christ.
The popular notion is that St. Peter inspects those who aspire to heaven and opens the gates of heaven to those who pass the inspection. Such is likely to revoke the authority given by Jesus to Peter and the other apostles; Jesus said, John 20:23, ”If you forgive people’s sins, they are forgiven. If you retain people’s sins, they are retained.” – This authority was given only to the apostles and was not intended to constitute a broader and ongoing procedure to replace the final judgment of Christ.
Where ever comes the belief that those who have reached heaven look down to earth to follow the loved ones they know? Incredible!
Man, the image of God – God, the image of man
God created man in his own image. Therefore, it is no coincidence that God is also in many respects like his image — man.
The God of the Bible repents of what he has done in haste and changes his mind. God is jealous according to the Bible.
Genesis:
6:6 Yahweh was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart.Exodus:
32:14 Yahweh repented of the evil which he said he would do to his people.– Doesn’t God consider the consequences of His actions? Does he act like humans?
1 Book of Samuel:
15:35 Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death; for Samuel mourned for Saul: and Yahweh repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.– Was God’s decision wrong from the beginning? After all, God should anticipate future events and the consequences of decisions.
2 Book of Samuel:
24:16 When the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, Yahweh repented him of the evil, and said to the angel who destroyed the people, It is enough; now stay your hand. The angel of Yahweh was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.Jeremia:
26:19 Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Didn’t he fear Yahweh, and entreat the favor of Yahweh, and Yahweh repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus should we commit great evil against our own souls.Amos:
7:3 Yahweh repented concerning this. “It shall not be,” says Yahweh.
7:6 Yahweh repented concerning this. “This also shall not be,” says the Lord Yahweh.Jonah:
3:10 God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way. God repented of the evil which he said he would do to them, and he didn’t do it.The God of the Bible repents of His decisions and deeds and changes (fortunately) his mind as man. Or have the writers of the Bible misinterpreted God’s feelings? Is God’s repentance the same as man’s? People have written descriptions of God and his feelings. The authors are even at odds with themselves, as there may be arguments in the same book that cancel each other out.
The God of the Bible is also jealous. He does not accept the worship of other gods of his own people, although it seems to be tolerated by the Gentiles (Exo 20: 3>). 34:14 ”for you shall worship no other god: for Yahweh, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. 15 Don’t make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, lest they play the prostitute after their gods, and sacrifice to their gods, and one call you and you eat of his sacrifice;” – The God of Israel wants his people not to be allied with the Gentiles; if they did, there would be a danger that the Israelites might have to eat the unclean sacrificial meat prepared by the Gentiles.
God seems to tolerate, perhaps even accept, that the Gentiles worship their own gods, as long as they do not become entangled in the customs of the Gentiles. Deu 4:19 and lest you lift up your eyes to the sky, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the hosts of the sky, you are drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which Yahweh your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole sky.
– Oops! God does not allow his own to serve the pieces of heaven, but has distributed them to be served by other nations. I cannot really say what God thinks when he decided to do so. Instead, I ask: God, how do you judge in the last judgment the Gentiles who have served the celestial bodies as their gods?
I have written before God to regard the Gentiles as “disposable,” which can be sacrificed out of his own people.
But, but… The Gentiles are also human, created in the image of God. With Christ comes a great change in attitude toward the Gentiles. They too are offered an opportunity for salvation by believing in the gospel of the Son of God. How will Christ, as the chief judge of the coming final judgment, deal with that vast multitude of Gentiles who have not heard of our God or his Son. Previously I wrote about how, until today, there have been more than 100 billion people in the world and most of them are Gentiles. The Epistle to the Romans brings one route of salvation: 2:15 “in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience testifying with them, and their thoughts among themselves accusing or else excusing them.”
Questions provoking Bible Stories
The people of Israel wandering in the desert
One blog post says that “Israel’s two million people wander in the wilderness over 40 years is a “fairy tale.”
After all, the story of the Bible feels pretty amazing. I would not now condemn the biblical account as a fairy tale. As a single question, I wonder: Where would so much gold have been obtained that a golden calf could have been cast?
The tribe of Israel was in Egypt as slaves to Pharaoh. Slaves are notoriously not very rich. When Moses ascended the mountain to receive God’s commandments, the people were left without his watchful eye. They decided to make themselves an idol, a golden calf when Moses had not returned for many days. Is it plausible that the slaves would have owned hundreds, perhaps thousands of pounds of gold?
As a second question, I wonder how the Israelis knew how to make a mold in the wilderness? Their work experience seems to be to build buildings out of clay bricks for Pharaoh and by no means to gain work experience in casting metals. But how would I know.
God is concealed
Has anyone ever seen God? John writes in his gospel 1:18 No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.
1 Joh 4:12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love has been perfected in us.
Exo 24:9 Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up.
10 They saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was like a paved work of sapphire stone, like the skies for clearness.11 He didn’t lay his hand on the nobles of the children of Israel. They saw God, and ate and drank.
12 Yahweh said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain, and stay here, and I will give you the tables of stone with the law and the commands that I have written, that you may teach them.”
13 Moses rose up with Joshua, his servant, and Moses went up onto God’s Mountain.But did they see the face of God? Moses was told that Moses would not see the face of God or he would die. God said to Moses Exo 33:20 ”He [God] said, You cannot see my face, for man may not see me and live.” – How did God resolve the matter? Exo 33:22 “It will happen, while my glory passes by, that I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 then I will take away my hand, and you will see my back; but my face shall not be seen.”
Maybe God is not omnipotent. Moses wanted to see the face of God. God refused because Moses would die after seeing it. Could God not protect Moses? Instead, he just showed his back. God is omnipotent, it is said. Didn’t God come up with any way Moses could see God’s face and survive?
The angels of God see God in heaven. Why can’t people see God? Because only the sinless are allowed to see the face of God. Even humans will see the glory of God when all sin is removed from them. Then God descends to earth in New Jerusalem.
God created the first man from dust
The early pages of the Bible already state: Gen 3:19 ”By the sweat of your face will you eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
God created man from the dust, which means that God created man from the materials of the earth.
If people in ancient times had been told what a person is made of, such as coal, hydrogen gas, nitrogen, phosphorus, etc., and when the listeners were finally told that two-thirds of the person is air and the same amount of water, the listeners would have laughed to break.
Instead of directly condemning the message of the Bible as a fairy tale or old bizarre beliefs, one should ask how that Bible verse should be interpreted to correspond to the beliefs of the people of the time in question.
Mat 28:19 baptismal order
Mat 28:19 ” Therefore go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
What is to be thought of this commandment which, according to the Bible, Christ gave to the apostles after his resurrection, shortly before his ascension to heaven. Jesus himself testified that he had been sent to earth because of the lost sheep of Israel. Perhaps now was the time to look to the Gentiles of the nations and take the word of the Bible to them and offer them the way to salvation. I do not dispute that, but the instruction on baptism is a forgery.
Why do I consider it a forgery? My reasoning is simple and pragmatic. Imagine the situation; the apostles have been broken by grief and now they meet the risen Christ. Do they promise to keep Christ’s baptismal command or not? The apostles promise to do exactly as Jesus tells them. But, what happened?
Pentecost came and many people from all over the country and the world had gathered to hear the teaching of the apostles. On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out on the apostles and about three thousand others from around the world. What did the apostles do? Act 2:38 ”Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 2:41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized. There were added that day about three thousand souls. 2:2 Suddenly there came from the sky a sound like the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 2:3 Tongues like fire appeared and were distributed to them, and one sat on each of them. 2:4 They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak.
Jesus promised to return soon
“You will not have gone through the cities of Israel …”
Jesus promised his apostles to return soon. He certainly would not have promised this if God had not promised it to Jesus. How soon is “soon”? This can be deduced from Jesus’ promise: Mat 10:23 “But when they persecute you in this city, flee into the next, for most assuredly I tell you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel, until the Son of Man has come.”
Israel is a small country and has few inhabitants in a few cities. These should be gone through in a year. Based on this, Jesus was expected to return in about a year.
However, faith in Jesus’ second coming lasted much longer than a year: 1 The 4:15 ”For this we tell you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left to the coming of the Lord, will in no way precede those who have fallen asleep.” – Paul wrote this letter to the Thessalonians during years 48-52. The letter reflects Paul’s faith and expectation of Christ’s second coming. That is why he says that “we who are alive then…”
Jesus did not return. Did he give new information to the apostles, or what happened? Preterists have settled the matter; they interpret the situation as meaning that all that Jesus promised has already been fulfilled.
What if I don’t have faith?
When a person is asked “are you in the faith,” you often get a negative headshake in response. The person in question may think that the Bible is so full of old fables and beliefs that one cannot believe them. If instead, one asks: Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, most may well answer in the affirmative. And with that answer, you are already saved.
Someone may know the accounts of the Bible and say, why should we believe in the resurrection of Jesus when even his own apostles did not believe until they had met the risen Jesus and talked with him.
If I could have a conversation with a Catholic believer, for example, I would like to ask about Virgin Mary, for example. Why do you believe Jesus’ mother is in heaven when the Bible testifies that only Jesus has ascended into heaven? I would also ask why Catholics consider Virgin Mary to be a mediator in heaven when the Bible says that Jesus is the mediator in heaven? I can imagine that a learned Catholic would appeal to a decision made by a church assembly or the pope.
I would like to hear why a clear word of the Bible does not convince a Catholic believer?
Should the gospel message be believed? Mar 1:15 “He [Jesus] said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is near! Repent, and keep believing in the gospel!”
The gospels are central to faith. Some Old Testament accounts, such as the Flood, are harder to believe.
Now that I have brought up the flood account, I will explain why it isn’t easy to believe it as an exact biblical account. How is it possible that Noah and his family, and perhaps hired helpers, would have collected two animals of each kind? There are millions of animal species! The gathering would probably have taken a long time and would have caused major problems in transporting the animals close to the ark. How would the beetles of the whole world be kept safe and how would they have been transferred to the ark? If the whole world had to be covered with water, where would so much water have come that all the mountain peaks miles high would have been covered?
I am still confident that the Flood took place. Traces of the devastation caused by the flood have been found over a wide area. However, it has not covered the entire globe. When the Bible speaks of the whole world being covered under water, I interpret it to mean that the whole known world of its time was covered under water.
I pointed out the writing issues that concern me. So I don’t blindly believe everything the Bible tells.
What should we think about, for example, falling into sin? Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God said to the angels: Gen 3:22 ”Yahweh God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, lest he put forth his hand, and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever…”
– Why shouldn’t the people of paradise understand what is good and what is evil? That is the purpose of God’s word. In fact, God had promised that all the trees of paradise should be eaten except the “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil”; Gen 2:16 Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat:17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat of it you will surely die.” From the Tree of life, could have been eaten as well. By eating from the tree of life, the inhabitants of paradise would have received eternal life! Didn’t have to believe in anything?
We also find the Tree of life and its fruits in the Book of Revelation; People who enter paradise are allowed to eat from this tree. I have interpreted the description as a figurative expression and that such a tree really doesn’t exist. Maybe there was one in Adam and Eve’s paradise?
Why did God place an angel to guard paradise and the other tree there, the fruit of which would give the eater eternal life? Wouldn’t it have been simpler to cut down the tree?
Why did God punish people for the transgression by driving them out of paradise, but to the serpent (Satan), God gave the prize: to rule the whole world? Read more in my article.
John 14:26
“But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you.”
There are contradictions in the Bible between different writers, such as evangelists. The reason given is that memory fails if you write about events only a couple of decades after the event itself. The critic may not have noticed Jesus’ promise that God will send the Holy Spirit, which reminds the apostles of every detail. If there are differences in the writings, there is an explanation other than memory failure.
The skeptical disciple Thomas was allowed to try on the traces of nails in the hands and feet of Jesus. Based on this, one can believe that Jesus was in the physical body. However, Jesus could suddenly appear in different places, that is, move in one moment from one place to another. The physical body would hardly be able to do this, but by switching to the spirit body this can be done. The apostles and the women who went to the tomb did not recognize Jesus when he looked like a stranger?
The book of Tobit (Apocrypha) tells the story of the angel Raphael who was a guest on earth. His host family did not notice any difference between Raphael and the people. Rafael even seemed to be eating with them. At the end of his visit, however, Rafael revealed that he was an angel of God.
And what does the New Testament say about the angels who visit the earth? The book of Hebrews calls for: 13:2 ”Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for in doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it.” The end-time events involve angels, they e.g. gather God’s own for safety from the violent events of the end times.
The leaders of the churches mentioned in the Bible are called angels. Rev 22:6 ”He said to me, “These words are faithful and true. The Lord God of the spirits of the prophets sent his angel to show to his bondservants the things which must happen soon.” I have written a separate article on the angels.
Just before Jesus was taken to heaven, he spoke to the apostles:
Act 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.” 9 When he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight.
The doctrine of hell
All people die at least once, the first death. Here I consider the mystery of the second death. With the second death, the Bible means death as a punishment for the last judgment. It is used in various names and descriptions. Common names: condemnation, destruction, colorful name: lake of fire, and commonly known word: hell.
Hell is understood as a punishment of eternal torment. Sometimes in the Middle Ages, hell was imagined to lie deep underground. It was even believed to have several layers there. The deepest of all was for those who did a lot of evil. The figure of speech used in Revelation seems to be the Lake of Fire, where Satan’s helpers, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet, are cast alive. Their master Satan will eventually end up in the same place. 1 Pet 3:18 ”Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God; being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;”
Strong’sin selityksestä: “Like Latin semel, used of what is so done as to be of perpetual validity and never need repetition, once for all.”
Heb 2:9 ”But we see him who has been made a little lower than the angels, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God he should taste of death for everyone.”
God considered it sufficient that Christ “tasted death” for all and then attained glory and exaltation. What about when a person dies; either before or in connection with the final judgment. Man is tested in suffering, in the fire of God. He is then cleansed of sin and allowed to enter God’s New World as a spirit being. https://salatturaamattu.fi/jumalan-tuli/
Christ atoned for the sins of men by His death. Just as Christ was raised from the dead, so is mankind raised from the dead. Eventually, a cleansing or punishment follows. God’s fire cleanses men from sins. If the sins are so serious that purification is not enough, the punishment is annihilation.
As I wrote about the Fire of God, I pondered what the condition is for access to purifying fire. Man must have “built his house,” that is, his faith, at least to some extent, on the faith of Christ. Does the absence of this, even a faint faith, mean that instead of purifying fire, the Gentiles will have to deal with consuming fire? We could think this way if my interpretation of the Gentiles as God’s ‘disposables’ were correct. Why did God give people a different amount of faith? Heb 2:17 ”Therefore he was obligated in all things to be made like his brothers, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people.”
What if a man has committed such grave sins that God’s purifying fire does not concern him, but he receives punishment for annihilation!
Annihilation
Annihilation is also the last, and of all the last punishments, it is the most final. Annihilation means the complete and final, irreversible destruction of man. With this in mind, even annihilation is eternal punishment. It differs from the eternal torture of the Lake of Fire. There is no torture in annihilation but rapid and complete destruction and, with destruction, eternal separation from God.
Christ acts as a judge in the Last Judgment. What punishment will he give to great sinners who do not receive his mercy? Eternal torture in the Lake of Fire, or complete destruction, the ultimate separation from God, as defined in 2 Thessalonians 1: 9:“Such people will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction by being separated from the Lord’s presence and from his glorious power.”
Someone may reject the idea of such punishment outright. It cannot be considered a punishment at all, especially compared to the eternal torture in a lake of fire. Think of it this way: Those who enter God’s New World paradise will move to the New Jerusalem. Those who have been punished for annihilation watch from the sidelines, but cannot enter the New Jerusalem. That’s when they realize what they’re about to lose forever.
The punishment for annihilation is justified by the word of God. The death and resurrection of one, Jesus Christ, have made possible the resurrection and eternal life of the elect. The death suffered by Jesus Christ is the Atonement for the sins, past and future of mankind. The Atonement’s purpose is that the completely innocent victim suffered the punishment for sinners that they themselves should suffer. Rom 6:23 ”For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
God defined the death penalty when He told Adam and Eve what would happen if they disobeyed. Gen 2:17 ”but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat of it you will surely die.”
The punishment for sin is therefore death. God does not mention anything about torture.
Christ did not die the second death
Christ died one death for our sins, that we might have life. If punishment were eternal suffering in hell, Christ would also have had to die the “second death,” whether it be eternal suffering in the fire of hell or another death through annihilation, in order for Christ’s sacrifice to match God’s punishment. The idea leads to Christ still being in hell today suffering punishment on our behalf. When this is not the case, the conclusion is that those who are not saved, that is, whose sins are not covered by the death of Christ, die the second death and stop existing, and do not enter God’s new world.
When I think about the idea in more detail, I come to the conclusion that God has decided the content of eternal and final punishment in advance. Its underlying idea is that the death of Christ covered the death that humans inherited from Adam, but it did not have to cover anything else.
When people sentenced to death in the final judgment are thrown into a Lake of Fire, it means their final destruction, the second death. They are accompanied by the destruction of death itself. Death no longer exists and is no longer needed because all the remaining people have been given eternal life.
- Important Bible Verses – Important Interpretations
A few words to start
I selected this set of Bible verses from my many articles. When reading these articles you will find that interpretation is not always easy. Originally, I thought I would just write down the ten most important verses, but I soon noticed, I wasn’t able to settle for just ten. The word of God is important throughout. Some of the verses, when you study them more closely, lead to very significant conclusions.
Doctrinally important change in my thinking brought these verses: Who [God] will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. (1 Tim 2:4) … ” My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure; … yes, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.” (Isa 46:10-11). Have you yourself thought what God means here?
First of all, I realized that God had an advance plan to act. God does not only hope that it would be nice if everyone were saved. God works to fulfill his will. Nothing can prevent the will of God. What was the doctrinal problem I had to study? For two thousand years, the teaching of the churches (which helped the Church to keep the members under control and in the right faith) has been: if you do not believe rightly, you will go to hell, which is eternal and endless torture in the lake of fire. Is it right that our Creator would send his children to eternal torture? God’s fire will purify us of the filth of sin, but is it an eternal torture for some?
In my writings, I show that the Greek word for aion and aionius and aïdios and Hebrew owlam do not mean eternal, endless time. See the reasoning at the end of this article. I feel that God has set a ‘trap’ in the Scriptures to the Bible scholars to see if we can identify the verses by which God reveals that the literal interpretation of the Bible is not the best or even possible.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isa 55:9)
If you have read all my articles in the Bible Concealed, you have noticed that in many places I ask: Why God? In my recent update on the Last Judgment, I write about God’s Advanced Plan. God has planned everything in advance. He had even planned to have his Son crucified as part of his solution for the future of mankind. We humans do not understand everything God has done and will do in the future. If only we admit it and would try to live every day according to God’s will.
For we are God’s co-workers; (1 Cor 3:9)
Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians is very significant. Paul tells us how he has, like a skillful builder, laid the foundation, and another man builds on that foundation, but this builder should look at what kind of house he is building. 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” People’s works will be revealed because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself will test what sort of work each man’s work is.
3:14 If any man’s work remains which he built on it, he will receive a reward.
15 If any man’s work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but as through fire.”.– Here is the description of human salvation; the foundation of life must be built upon Christ. The evil deeds of men and, of course, the good ones, will come to light when the fire will test him after judgment. However, man is saved as if through fire.
Before that, however, there is a verse that has been missed by many. And if anyone has noticed, he has not figured out its significance. 3:9 ” For we are God’s co-workers; You are God’s farming, God’s building.” Who does Paul say we are God’s co-workers? And who are the “Farmland of God” and “God’s Buildings”?
Let’s start from the very beginning. God created man in His own image. Surely it wasn’t God’s idea that it would be nice just to watch people walk in paradise. Something more important he had reserved for man. Then followed the Fall. As a result of it, God gave His only Son to redeem mankind from the power of Satan. Then in the near future: The Son of God will come and establish the Millennial kingdom.
Then the last judgment will be read to each resurrected person. People will be purified of all sin. They are ready to act in the role God gives for them. Think! They will be God’s co-workers. Paul (who originally was the greatest enemy of Christendom) and the apostles were already in his lifetime such co-workers. The participants of the first resurrection will receive the gift of eternal life at their resurrection, and they will be God’s and Jesus’ co-workers in the same way the apostles once did. However, I made a bold interpretation that the saved ones of the second resurrection, who will also receive eternal life, will join the other God’s co-workers to carry out the tasks given them by God.
The devil said to him [Jesus], “I will give you all this authority, and their glory, for it has been delivered to me; and I give it to whomever I want. (Luk 4:6)
The Bible calls Satan “King of this world” (or prince). For example, John 16:11 “about judgment, because the prince of this world has been judged”. Why has God given all the authority of the Earth to Satan? Why didn’t God destroy Satan as soon as his disobedience to God became clear? We don’t always understand God’s far-sighted thoughts. Isaiah has written to us the message of God: For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isa 55:9).
I reasoned: To become God’s co-worker in the kingdom of God, man must prove that he has made the right choice. Most choose to live the worldly way yearning to the pleasures it offers, everything that Satan can offer. One who chooses to obey the kingdom of God and the gospel of Christ is acceptable to God.
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, (1 Tim 2:5)
This is the Bible verse that the Catholics do not seem to have read. In their opinion, Virgin Mary, except being the Eternal Virgin and the Mother of God, is also the Mediator between man and God. The Catholic doctrine says that “at the end of her earthly life her body was raised directly into Heaven; this is known in the Christian West as the Assumption. Pope John Paul II‘s 1987 encyclical Redemptoris Mater began with the sentence: “The Mother of the Redeemer has a precise place in the plan of salvation.” It does not seem to matter that the Bible states that no one except Jesus has ascended in heaven. The Third Ecumenical Ecclesiastical Assembly has raised Mary to the title of the Divine Mother in 431.
According to the Catholic Church, Mary was taken to heaven with her body, which in 1950 was declared a dogma (Assumtion Mariae). The Catholic Church meetings, unlike the Bible, interpreting the Bible in their own way, have raised Jesus Christ to God while God the Father made Jesus as ‘merely’ Lord and Christ.
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Jesus Christ – the Man
There are two important things in the Bible verse above: There is only one mediator between God and man. He is Jesus Christ. Catholics are confident that the mother of Jesus, Virgin Mary, is also an important mediator in heaven. She is being given prayer requests even though they should be addressed to Jesus. Mary is lying dead in her grave, waiting for the resurrection.
Another, perhaps even more significant, observation: Jesus Christ is a human being in heaven. He was born as a human, he lived a human life, died as a human being and ascended in heaven as a human.
For you have made him [man] a little lower than God, and crowned him with glory and honor; (Psa 8:5)
Who is this, which is spoken of almost a god? It is the man God created in his own image. Man has had to experience a long course of development from almost a God to almost an outcast. When God’s plan is realized, man will regain his role as God’s co-worker and Son of God, the brother of Christ.
For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man. (1 Cor 15:21).
So then as through one trespass, all men were condemned; even so through one act of righteousness, all men were justified to life. For as through the one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one [man] will many be made righteous (Rom 5:18-19).
No one has ascended into heaven, but he who descended out of heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven. (Joh 3:13).
The common misconception is that, upon death, good people will enter heaven and the evil ones will go to hell. The dead are looking at their relatives on Earth from heaven. If people had common sense and power of deduction, they could wonder: 1) How is it possible that some get to heaven and others go to hell without any judgment 2) How is it possible that those who have come to heaven will stay there when Jesus returns to the Earth in accordance with his promise to rule the Millennial kingdom. 3) When the last judgment is given, do people in heaven then have to return to Earth for judgment?
The most famous person who should be in heaven is the Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus, the Eternal Virgin and the Mother of God. More than a billion people believe this and direct their prayers to Mary in heaven. However, Mary has not ascended in heaven because “no one” has risen there except Jesus Christ. Not even Abraham, whom God called his friend. Nor has King David who was a man in God’s liking. NO ONE!
who [God] desires all people to be saved and come to full knowledge of the truth. (1Tim. 2:4) … My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure; … I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it. (Isa 46:10-11)
So God wants all people to be saved. According to the next verse, God assures that he will do what he has spoken. “For God so loved the world, that he gave one His only Son [to be crucified]” (John 3:16). Is this God’s solution by which God will save the whole world?
As Jesus resurrected and ascended into heaven, he appeared to the Pharisee Saul who was a persecutor of Christians. Saul was on his way to Damascus to arrest Christians and deliver them to Jerusalem for judgment. What did Jesus do? He appeared to Saul in a bright light that blinded Saul and converted him to Christianity by force, totally against his will. Saul became the most prolific writer of the New Testament and the apostle of the nations, especially in the eastern part of the Roman Empire.
In my writings in the chapter the Last Judgment, I ponder God’s punishment; at its extremes, it could be annihilation i.e. the eternal destruction and separation from the presence of God, and universalism, according to which everyone will eventually be saved. How could God’s punishment be possible in the light of this Bible verse, that those who receive the judgment will suffer forever in the torment of the fiery lake?
For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (Joh 3:16)
Although the death of the innocent man on the cross is a dramatic event, we know that it did not bring repentance to the whole world and turn people to faith. Only a small part of humanity are devout believers. So how will God fulfill his will to save everyone? Has God given all people equal opportunities for salvation? How could it even be possible as God gave people a different amount of faith for each one?
Universalists believe that God also loves those who do not believe in Christ. An example of such people is Paul, who at first was a cruel persecutor of Christians. He was forced to convert into Christianity.
The question that the universalists are asking is: doesn’t God love all people enough that he would convert also those who do not believe? Throughout the existence of Christianity, it has been believed that salvation requires faith in Christ, even if the conversion takes place at the last minute when the destruction of the Lord’s day is swallowing a large part of humanity. The question is specifically about the part of mankind that has not even had the opportunity to choose.
The Bible does offer the possibility of salvation for those who have not heard of Christ, but whose conscience defends the human being on the basis that man follows a similar law of neighbor’s love as Christians. However, there are billions of people who have not been given the opportunity to choose Christ and whom their community has forced to act contrary to the word of the Bible.
As God has predetermined certain people to be Christ’s own, one can ask whether God has chosen some people for destruction i.e. the people to whom God has not given faith or even the possibility of knowing the Bible.
Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without blemish before him in love; having predestined us for adoption as children through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his desire, (Eph 1:4-5)
But he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the Kingdom of God to the other cities also. For this reason, I have been sent.” (Luk 4:43)
Whom does Jesus save? Does Jesus only save those who believe in him, as John says in the verse 3:16?
The Apostle Paul considered it important to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom of God so vigorously that he warned: “But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you any gospel other than that which we preached to you, let him be cursed”. (Gal 1:8)
The contents of the gospel are explained by the three evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke in almost identical terms and John added his own perspective. And yet, the content and meaning of the kingdom of God is unknown to many. At the moment, in the Kingdom of God, there is a multitude of angels as well as one man, the Son of God, Jesus Christ. There will soon be new members in the Kingdom of God as the participants of the first resurrection are joined to it.
These Saints will rule under Christ’s control of the Millennium kingdom of Christ on Earth and after the last judgment condemns with the Saints all the new resurrected. When Christ has brought all people in his kingdom under his authority, he gives back all power to God the Father. Until then, the kingdom of God is the heavenly administration under Christ. Those who have received a positive verdict will not only be subordinate to the Kingdom of God, they will be Christ’s brothers and sisters, and God’s co-workers.
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God’s definition is that He is eternal – without beginning and without end. God is not born, nor has anyone created him. He is the only one who is eternal.
I am Jehovah, and there is none else; besides me there is no God. (Isa 45:5)
This is what God spoke through Isaiah. God Jehovah does not speak anything of a triune godhead. Not a word that his Son and the Holy Spirit would also be part of the divinity. Christ was found to be one person of the Triune God only in the 300’s. Similarly, the Holy Spirit was joined to the divinity a few decades later. The Triune God is rooted in paganism; Jesus did not speak of it, nor did his disciples. As for Christianity, the entire Triune God is the invention of the Catholic Church.
”yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we live through him.” (1 Cor 8:6).
Paul clearly defines God: We have only one God, the Father. Paul continues: and (we have) one Lord Jesus Christ. In this way, there is no way that God can be understood this way: We have one God who consists of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Paul had the opportunity to define God this way if he was of this opinion. Neither did Jesus Christ himself say he was God, but the Shema “God is one” was confirmed by the early Israelis. Deu 6:4: “Shema Jisrael, Adonai Elohenu Adonai Echad” – Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
”before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me”. (Isa 43:10)
This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ. (Joh 17:3)
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ; (Eph 1:3)
The three Bible verses above confirm God as one, the Father. The Ephesian letter still states that God the Father is the God of Jesus Christ. Can God Have God? God the Father made his son Jesus, not to be God, but Lord and Christ.
Everything that happens in the world takes place according to God’s advance plan:
that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none besides me: I am Jehovah, and there is no one forming light, and creating darkness; making peace, and creating evil. I am Jehovah, who does all these things. (Isa 45:6-7)
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For as the Father has life in himself, even so he gave to the Son also to have life in himself. (Joh 5:26)
Most Christians believe in the Triune God. According to it the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are equal in divinity. The mathematical testimony of the triune divinity is: 1 + 1 + 1 = 1, not 3. The fact that Jesus Christ himself testified that God is one, i.e. the Father, has no importance. There are three god persons. To prove this, verses from the Bible have been presented, which when examined in more detail, prove something quite different. For example Joh 20:28
Thomas answered him [Jesus], “My Lord and my God!” If you read only this verse, one may well conclude that Thomas says to Jesus that Jesus is his Lord and God. But if you read three verses forward, the truth is revealed: (John 20:31) but these are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.
Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I tell you, I speak not from myself; but the Father who lives in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me; or else believe me for the very works’ sake. (Joh 14:10-11)
John seems to attach importance to this assurance of Jesus because he uses two verses. Jesus does not want to prove his own divinity, but to explain that God the Father is behind his deeds. Jesus explains: ”For I spoke not from myself, but the Father who sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. I know that his commandment is eternal life. The things therefore which I speak, even as the Father has said to me, so I speak.” (Joh 12:49-50) And these too: ”For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.” “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me”. (Joh 6:38, 7:16)
Isn’t Jesus part of the Almighty Triune God? If he were God himself, he would probably have had words and deeds of his own, and he would not have to rely on God the Father. At the Church synod, Jesus was found to be not only a human being, but also a God. In fact, I am not a supporter of such doctrine, but I have said that Jesus is definitely a human being. The humanity of Jesus is also found in the following verse: For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, (1 Tim 2:5)
having become so much better than the angels, as he has inherited a more excellent name than they have. Heb 1:4
Hebrews (2: 9) states that Jesus states that he was made “a little lower than the Angels.” That’s the way we humans are. When Jesus ascended in heaven after his resurrection, God raised him to “much better than the angels”. I was once reflecting on the problems related to this issue and the question arose: if Jesus was God in heaven before he was born on Earth, why did God have to raise Jesus when he returned to heaven? Why did not God (the Father) and Holy Spirit just say “welcome back and take your place as a member of the Triune God”. On the whole, how can God be raised? – Hope you didn’t get upset about what I said. My intention was not to make a mockery of the Triune God. If you read my writings related to this topic, you will understand why I believe God is just one. This is also what Jesus believed.
No one can come to me [Jesus] unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up in the last day. (Joh 6:44)
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up in the last day to an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that doesn’t fade away, reserved in heaven for you, (1 Pet 1:3-4)
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Word of God
I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to them, may God add to him the plagues which are written in this book. If anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, may God take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book. (Rev 22:18-19).
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”We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” (1 Joh 5:19).
even he whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deception of wickedness for those who are being lost, because they didn’t receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: (2 The 2:9-11)
The devil, leading him up on a high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. The devil said to him, “I will give you all this authority, and their glory, for it has been delivered to me; and I give it to whomever I want. If you therefore will worship before me, it will all be yours.” (Luk 4:5-7)
Why has God given the Earth and its nations to Satan? God wants all people to know Him and be saved. Wouldn’t it have been better for God to destroy Satan? But remember: Isa 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the Earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
in whom the god of this world [i.e. Satan] has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn on them. (2 Cor 4:4)
Satan is still the “god of this world.” Satan is called by many names that describe his many attempts to prevent people from believing in Jesus Christ. God has allowed him to act almost without limit, but it will end when Jesus comes the second time and establishes his Millennial Kingdom. Then Satan will be bound and his assistant Antichrist and the false prophet will be thrown into the lake of fire.
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The man
Most assuredly I tell you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these will he do; because I am going to my Father. (Joh 14:12)
Jesus testified that God the Father was behind all the miracles of Jesus. When Jesus promises that the people who believe in him will have the power to make more significant works than Jesus did, it means that the power of God will be available to members of the Kingdom of heaven. That power comes from faith. Jesus said in Matthew 21:21: ”Most assuredly I tell you, if you have faith, and don’t doubt, you will not only do what is done to the fig tree, but even if you told this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it would be done.”
For what purpose someone in God’s kingdom might need such forces, I still can’t say.
“For whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.” (Mat 12:50)
Man was created in the image of God as Christ is at the moment, but man is not yet. Those people who are doing the will of God, Christ recognizes his brothers and sisters, or his mother. It can happen either after the first resurrection, or else after the second resurrection after the promulgation of the judgment of God.
”For whom the Lord loves, he chastens, And scourges every son whom he receives.” (Heb 12:6)
Chastisement is instructive and educating. It educates man mentally and prepares him to join the kingdom of God. Those reproached in this way will not be condemned with the world at the final judgment.
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. (2 Kor 5:17)
When man is in faith, he has become a new creation. He has received the seal of God, which protects him from tribulations of the last times.
Therefore don’t be anxious, saying, ‘What will we eat?’, ‘What will we drink?’ or, ‘With what will we be clothed?’ For after all these things the nations seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. But seek first God’s Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well. (Mat 6:31-33)
Today, people agonize with livelihood and having money enough is their greatest concern. Jesus also sent his disciples to preach the Kingdom of God. The journey was made without suitcases and a big bag of money, trusting that God would take care of their daily needs. When the rich young man asked Jesus what he should do to enter the Kingdom of God, Jesus urged him to sell everything and give the money to the poor. The young man did not have enough faith that God would take care of him and he went away sorrowful.
… but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the letter; whose praise is not from men, but from God. (Rom 2:29)
At the time of the early church, there were uncertainties about the correct attitude towards the new converts from paganism to Christianity and also Jewish Christians. Do you need to do circumcision for those who are converted, many of whom were old people? What food was it good to eat? To what extent should the converts comply with the Jewish regulations? And so on. Paul did not require the hundreds of rules and ordinances of the Jews to be followed by the converts. They would be Jewish internally. Israel thus became “Israel of God”. Israel of God is made up of all those believers who are in Christ and recognize Him as Lord and Christ.
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.. in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed (1 Cor 15:52)
… It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. (1 Cor. 15:44 )
In the first resurrection, the believers who have died in Christ during the first two millennia will rise first. Immediately after these, Christ’s own who are alive, will change and ascend in the clouds to meet Christ who is coming. If faith is strong enough, such a person can have a share in the first resurrection; these resurrected will not have to participate in the Last Judgment.
The second resurrection takes place a thousand years after the first one. It is also called the resurrection of judgment because all, who are dead, are judged according to their deeds.
”For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like God’s angels in heaven.” (Mat 22:30)
The Creed talks about ‘resurrection of the body’, but the human physical body does not resurrect. The resurrection body is spiritual, not flesh and blood. After the death of man, the spirit has been with God in heaven. I cannot answer the question whether the spirit in heaven with God waiting for the final judgment is in a conscious state or unconscious.
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Jesus answered him, “Most assuredly, I tell you, unless one is born anew, [again, from above] he can’t see the Kingdom of God.” (Joh 3:3)
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Mat 7:21)
Most assuredly I tell you, among those who are born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptizer; yet he who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he. (Mat 11:11)
“The Kingdom of God doesn’t come with observation;” (Luk 17:20)
At present, the Kingdom of God is in heaven, and there are God, a great number of angels, and Jesus Christ, the only man. They are all in the spirit body. The kingdom of heaven can only be accessed through the resurrection. The above Matthew 11:11 shows how tough the requirements are in accessing the kingdom of heaven. According to our measure, John the Baptist who made the way to Jesus is a commendable believer. However, Matthew says that even the least in the kingdom of God is greater than John the Baptist. John the Baptist is according to my interpretation, still waiting for the resurrection and access to the Kingdom of God.
Getting in the Kingdom of God is much more difficult than achieving salvation. Those who enter the kingdom of God form a small group and are involved in the first resurrection. A much larger group will be saved in the last judgment given after the second resurrection. This small crowd, the so-called saints, reign with Christ in the Millennial kingdom. After the resurrection, this group of saints will receive the gift of eternal life and membership in the Kingdom of God (or Heaven).
What does it mean that the Kingdom of God is not visible, or as Luke (17:20) says, comes not with observation? First, there is a group of saints, who are part of the Kingdom of God, reigning over the Millennial kingdom with Christ. They are in the spirit and, according to my interpretation, that means they are invisible. They can also take the physical body as Jesus did after his resurrection. Instead, the subjects of Christ’s Millennial kingdom are all in the physical body, and they are mortal, unlike the leadership of the kingdom who have received eternal life.
The Kingdom of God is described in Romans 14:17 for the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
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“Most assuredly I tell you, he who hears my word, and believes him who sent me, has eternal life, and doesn’t come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. (Joh 5:24)
”For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead.” (Jam 2:26)
He said to them, “Because of your unbelief. For most assuredly I tell you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.
Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly I tell you, if you have faith, and don’t doubt, you will not only do what is done to the fig tree, but even if you told this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it would be done. (Mat 17:20,21:21)Most assuredly I tell you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these will he do; because I am going to my Father. (Joh 14:12).
It will happen that whoever will call on the name of Jehovah shall be saved; For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, As Jehovah has said, And among the remnant, those whom Jehovah calls. (Joel 2:32).
But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you any gospel other than that which we preached to you, let him be cursed. (Gal 1:8)
For I say, through the grace that was given me, to every man who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think reasonably, as God has apportioned to each person a measure of faith. (Rom 12:3)
It is notable in this verse of the Romans, that God has given to each human being a measure of faith; for some a little and plenty for some others. God is also like a potter who makes vessels for various uses; some vessels for everyday use, others for special occasions. Some people are attracted to God, but not all. Why does God not treat all his creatures in the same way? I thought that at the last judgment God would take into account the different starting points of people, and that God would be merciful to those to whom he has given faith just a little.
The disciples came, and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” He answered them, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them. For whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have abundance, but whoever doesn’t have, from him will be taken away even that which he has. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they don’t see, and hearing, they don’t hear, neither do they understand. In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, ‘By hearing you will hear, And will in no way understand; Seeing you will see, And will in no way perceive: (Mat 13:10-14)
Even the disciples did not understand what Jesus meant by the parables he told them. Jesus explained to them, but not to the great crowds. Why didn’t Jesus even want the ordinary people to understand his parables? Generally, parables are used to make it easier to understand things. I’m thinking that God has wanted people to make some effort and make an effort to understand. Not that everything would be offered pre-chewed. Matthew 7:7 indicates to this: ”Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you.”
”For you set aside the commandment of God, and hold tightly to the tradition of men-the washing of pitchers and cups, and you do many other such things. “He said to them, “Full well do you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. (Mark. 7:8-9)
This was written two millennia ago, and I can only say that the world has not changed much since then. Faith is accompanied by a lot of religious customs that steal a large part of the true worship of God. Particularly in the Catholic world, there is worship and processions of saints to honor especially the Virgin Mary. The worship of the Virgin Mary is very common around the world. A few years ago, the worship and celebration of the Virgin Mary in South America was shown on television. At the same time, there was a local, old pagan-god feast celebrated.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God, and knows God. (1 Joh 4:7)
”for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,” (Eph 2:8)
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Salvation
The starting point for God’s plan of salvation is that God wants all people to be saved. In another passage of the Bible, God still assures that he will complete what he wants. When you read these verses, you may wonder why one verse promises salvation without greater effort, but another verse seems to make it very difficult to reach salvation.
[God] who desires all people to be saved and come to full knowledge of the truth. (1Tim 2:4)
It will happen that whoever will call on the name of Jehovah shall be saved; For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, As Jehovah has said, And among the remnant, those whom Jehovah calls. (Joel 2:32)
In the day of the Lord, much of mankind will be destroyed when God’s wrath and revenge erupts on us. In this turmoil of destruction, many will still curse God, but many will call Jehovah or Jesus – and will be saved. They are saved at that time, but the final salvation is still some way off.
… For you [Jesus Christ] were killed, And bought us for God with your blood, Out of every tribe, language, people, and nation, (Rev 5:9)
There are some saved from all languages and tribes. However, it is not said here that Jesus, with his blood, has bought all men from all tribes and tongues and nations. In other words, here is no promise of salvation to every human being.
“Most assuredly I tell you, he who hears my word, and believes him who sent me, has eternal life, and doesn’t come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. (Joh 5:24)
This verse above has an important promise to the believer: eternal life without being involved in the last judgment. The believer actually is promised a part in the first resurrection. This is how I interpret this promise of Jesus. When a man is born again, he receives the seal of God, which helps the angels to recognize him and guard him in the coming tribulations. The sealed people are also gathered together by the angels.
that if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Rom 10:9 )
The recognition of the mouth given in church with others is not enough. God also needs the faith of the heart.
For no one can lay any other foundation than that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ. But if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or stubble; each man’s work will be revealed. For the Day will declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself will test (δοκιμάζω dokimázō: to test, examine, prove, scrutinize, to see whether a thing is genuine or not, as metals) what sort of work each man’s work is. If any man’s work remains which he built on it, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but as through fire. (1 Cor 3:11-15)
No other basis of faith than faith in Jesus Christ guarantees to man the salvation and access to the Kingdom of God. At its best, human faith is weak and shaky. In the Ephesians, it is assured that ”for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast.” (2:8-9)
The building of faith that man has built during his life is tested in the final judgment. 1 Cor tells you what can happen: if the fire finds a “building” durable, the man will be paid. If, on the other hand, the building of faith is done poorly, it will burn, but the man himself will be saved “as if through fire.”
How is the verse about the final judgment possible? ”… They were judged, each one according to his works.” (Rev 20:13)
”What good is it, my brothers, if a man says he has faith but has no works? Can faith save him? And if a brother or sister is naked and in lack of daily food, and one of you tells them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled;” and yet you didn’t give them the things the body needs, what good is it? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself. Yes, a man will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.” (Jam 2:14-18)
James seems to get to the essence of the matter: a faith that does not give man a desire to do the works of faith to his neighbors is useless and in fact dead. The right faith is manifested as loving deeds. How many believers are there who fulfill the words of Jesus, “what have you not done to one of these least, you have not done to me”?
”For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead.” (Jam 2:26).
… a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. (Rom 3:28) But to him who doesn’t work [works of the law], but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness. (Rom 4:5)
but if any man’s work [‘house of faith’] is burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
Paul explains salvation this way: on the last day the fire of God will test each man’s works; If someone’s work burns, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, as through fire (1 Cor 3:15). The prerequisite is that man has sought to build the foundation of his faith in Christ.
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Is salvation easy or difficult?
“If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will happen to the ungodly and the sinner?” (1 Pet 4:18)
“Enter in by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter in by it. For narrow is the gate, and constricted is the way that leads away into life, and few are the ones who find it (Mat 7:13-14).
I would say it’s easy for a believer. The fire of God, which tests the man’s works may be painful, but the man is saved – as if through fire.
When a man becomes a believer: Eph 1:13 in whom you also, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation,-in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, And also: [God] who also sealed us, and gave us the down payment of the Spirit in our hearts. (2 Kor 1:22).
Faith in Christ also manifests itself in the expectation of his coming. Paul says:
” From now on, there is stored up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day; and not to me only, but also to all those who have loved his appearing.” (2 Tim 4:8).
For when nations not having Law do by nature the things of the Law, they not having Law are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience witnessing with them, and the thoughts between one another accusing or even excusing, (Rom 2:14-15)
Even the Gentiles can be saved even if they have no faith in our God at all. The Romans shows that if the Gentiles are like “good Christians”, they can be saved by the testimony of their conscience. If the Gentiles act according to their hearts to their neighbors the way Christians are called to act, i.e. to love their fellow men as themselves, they have the deeds of the law in their hearts.
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For when they are saying, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction will come on them, like birth pains on a pregnant woman; and they will in no way escape. (1 The 5:3). For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, (Rom. 1:18).
Do not let anyone deceive you in any way, because that Day will not come unless first comes the falling away, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, the one opposing and exalting himself over everything being called God, or object of worship, so as for him “to sit in the temple of God” as God, proclaiming that he himself is God (2 Tes 2:3-4).
Behold, the day of Jehovah comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger; to make the land a desolation, and to destroy the sinners of it out of it. (Isa 13:9)
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. (2 Pet. 3:10)
And immediately after the affliction of those days the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give her light, and the stars will fall from the heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of man will appear in the heavens. And then all the tribes of the land will wail. And they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and much glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the heavens to their ends. (Mat 24:29-31)
The fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from the sky which had fallen to the earth. The key to the pit of the abyss was given to him. He opened the pit of the abyss, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke from a burning furnace. The sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke from the pit. Then out of the smoke came forth locusts on the earth, and power was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. They were told that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only those people who don’t have God’s seal on their foreheads. (Rev 9:1-4)
Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we will be saved from God’s wrath through him. (Rom 5:9)and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead- Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come. (1 The 1:10)
For God didn’t appoint us to wrath, but to the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, (1 Tes. 5:9)
God has not destined believers to suffer the wrath of God on the day of the Lord. Believers receive salvation through Christ. Salvation is in two parts; salvation from the destruction of the Lord’s day and salvation to eternal life by the last judgment.
since it is a just thing with God to pay back tribulation to the ones troubling you, and to give you, those being troubled, relief with us at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from Heaven with angels of His power, in flaming fire giving full vengeance to those not knowing God, and to those not obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will pay the penalty: eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might, (2 Tes 1:6-9)
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For the time will come when they will not listen to the sound doctrine, but, having itching ears, will heap up for themselves teachers after their own lusts; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside to fables. (2 Tim 4:3)
This verse tells how people are looking for teachers whose teaching tickles their ears. People want to hear only pleasant things. The teaching that all will enter heaven is to their liking.
Because of this, God sends them a working of error, that they should believe a lie; (2 The 2:11). For there will arise false christs, and false prophets, and they will show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the chosen ones. (Mat 24:24)
Satan is the one who always and everywhere tries to mislead people out of the truth. In the end, God will also test the faith of the people by sending a “strong deception”. The deception is so convincing that even the chosen ones are mistaken to accept it. At the end times, Satan’s nearest aide, the Antichrist, will come forth; even he whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deception of wickedness for those who are being lost, because they didn’t receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. (2 Tes 2:9-10)
I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, that you have no participation in her sins, and that you don’t receive of her plagues, (Ilm 18:4)
What is the fate of God’s own people in these difficult times?
They will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. (Luk 21:24) (Jerusalem was released in 1967)
For I am with you, says Jehovah, to save you: for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have scattered you, but I will not make a full end of you; but I will correct you in measure, and will in no way leave you unpunished. (Jer 30:11)
For Jehovah will have pity on Jacob, and will yet choose among Israel, and set them in their own land. And the foreigner shall be joined to them; and they shall cling to the house of Jacob. (Jes 14:1)
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“that they all might be judged who didn’t believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (2 Tes 2:12)
For these people, the word of the cross is foolishness, but for those who are saved, it is the power of God.
But for the cowardly and unbelieving, and those having become foul, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all the lying ones, their part will be in the Lake burning with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. (Rev 21:8)
The Book of Revelation lists a number of different people who have to suffer the judgment in the lake of fire. I have greatly wondered what the cowards are doing on this list. In English, the Word the Greek word deilos δειλός G1169 (coward) is translated into fearful or timid, and the Greek word has been translated correctly, and the few times it has been used in NT the word should be translated like this. For example Mat 8:26 “And he [Jesus] saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?” Then he arose and rebuked the winds and the lake, and the wind became perfectly calm. Mark uses the same word for fearful deilos: “And they said to them, why are you so fearful?” – The only explanation I can find is that the word is used for cowardice when there is no faith left.
However, it is inconceivable that cowards would be punished by being thrown into the lake of fire to be tortured there forever. Jesus no longer returned to the above-mentioned event, so it was not very significant. Peter was also a coward and denied Jesus three times. Nevertheless, Peter retained his position in connection with the Apostles and the Church of Jerusalem. He and the other apostles are expected to lead the twelve tribes of Israel in the Millennial kingdom. For the moment I can’t explain why cowards have been included in Revelation 21:8 to be thrown into the lake of fire.
For if we discerned ourselves, we wouldn’t be judged. But being judged, we are corrected by the Lord, that we not be condemned with the world. – “We” refers to believers, the called and chosen ones. (1 Cor 11:31-32)
For those who are the Lord’s own, believers, judgment is the Lord’s punishment, which means teaching, correction, healing, etc. during the lifetime of a believer. Those who belong to the world are much more than the above-mentioned Lord’s own people, will be condemned much more severely.
– The word for judgment is in Greek κρίνω krinō. When the Church of God is being judged, it includes the Lord’s punishment. The consequence of punishment, on the other hand, is chastening reproach of wrong behavior. The punishment is in Greek παιδεitusωv paideuo, which according to Strongs contains the following qualities: educate, Discipline (by punishment): chasten, instruct, learn (to cause one to learn), teach. Further, God stretches out by producing suffering, pain, or even great economic losses. The church is not included in the same set with the rest of the world. Further, God chastises by producing suffering, pain, or even great economic losses. God’s Church is not included in the same group with the rest of the world.
The fact that the called and chosen have to experience the chastening of God already in their lifetime, allows them to participate in the first resurrection and rule in the Millennial kingdom with Christ. They will not be condemned in the last judgment, but have already received eternal life in their resurrection.
As many as I love, I reprove and chasten. Be zealous therefore, and repent. (Rev 3:19)
Here is a part of the words given by Jesus to the Church of Laodicea. Today’s society and its churches are considered the modern Laodicean church. This world’s churches are lukewarm, rich in their own eyes, but are neither cold nor hot. Jesus says he is vomiting them out of his mouth. Jesus urges you to buy eye salve so that people can see the true reality.
Part of the churches are on the right track. Jesus loves them and therefore they are chastised and instructed to repent.
“The King [Jesus] will answer them, ‘Most assuredly I tell you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ (Mat 25:40)
In the last judgment, our deeds are examined. An example of this, the verse above, tells us how we should deal with our underprivileged brothers in our lives. What we do or leave undone for them, we do to Christ himself.
Don’t judge, And you won’t be judged. Don’t condemn, And you won’t be condemned. Set free, And you will be set free. (Luk 6:37)
The history of churches and other denominations is full of examples of judgmental attitudes towards other believers. The code of conduct is derived from the doctrine that if one does not act according to the doctrine, such a person will receive a severe punishment. In the Middle Ages, the punishment could even have been burning at the stake. Today, punishment can be separation from the church and shunning the person so that even relatives or friends are not allowed to be in contact with the person.
It is not for us to pronounce condemnation, which simply means that the person is deemed to hell i.e. the lake of fire.
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When the Lord Jesus appears from heaven with his angels in flaming fire giving full vengeance to those not knowing God, and to those not obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will pay the penalty: eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might, (2 Tes 1:8-9)
2 Thessalonians is written to comfort those who are waiting for Christ, to be rewarded with access to the Kingdom of God and those who persecute them would be punished in the fire of Christ with eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and the glory of his power. In my view, this is not the last judgment; Here the judgment is directed at the coming of Christ to the living sinners on Earth, and only the last judgment condemns the resurrected dead.
“These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Mat 25:46)
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Sodom and Gomorrah
“Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them, having, in the same way as these, given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the punishment (dikē) of eternal (aiōnios) fire (pyr)”. (Jud 1:7)
The inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah committed the filthy deeds spoken in Revelation 21:8. These cities have been destroyed and the destruction is eternal. The fire itself that the Bible says is burning, is extinct for Sodom and Gomorrah. Does it mean that city dwellers will be punished at the last judgment. The punishment is said to be the suffering of the eternal fire.
This interpretation is supported by the verse in 1:6 above: …Angels who didn’t keep their first domain, but deserted their own dwelling place, he has kept in everlasting bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day.
In verse 1:6 Jude speaks of the angels who, contrary to God’s prohibition, left their heavenly dwellings and came to the Earth and took the women they considered beautiful. These angels are placed in the “eternal” bonds to wait for the final judgment. The Book of Revelation uses the phrase to eternal bonds unthinkingly: God’s purpose is not to keep them in chains always and forever. For this, I am sure you will agree. Instead, disagreement arises from the punishment itself. Is this an eternal punishment in the fiery lake? It is quite possible that the Bible equates the judgment of the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah with the judgment of the angels. The Saints will also condemn the angels.
The fire of Sodom and Gomorrah might not have been meant to be eternal, but the punishment was to be eternal after the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorra were awakened to the last judgment. Is the judgment truly endless forever? At least we know from the Bible that it can be very long; The Antichrist and the false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire when Jesus comes and overcomes them. Rev 19:20 “The beast i.e. the Antichrist was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked the signs in his sight, with which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur”.
The fire of Sodom and Gomorrah might not have been meant to be eternal, but the punishment was to be eternal after the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorra were awakened to the last judgment. Is the judgment truly endless forever? At least we know from the Bible that it can be very long; The Antichrist and the false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire when Jesus comes and overcomes them. Rev 19:20 “The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked the signs in his sight, with which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur”.
The following chapter tells of Satan’s fate when he and his troops lose the battle; The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are also. They will be tormented (G928 βασανίζω basanizō) day and night forever and ever. (Rev 20:10)
– The Antichrist and false prophet are still in the fiery lake when Satan is thrown there. They have been in the lake of fire a thousand years. This shows that the punishment can be long-lasting. When the Antichrist and the false prophet were thrown into the lake of fire a thousand years before Satan, where they have been throughout the millennial reign of Christ, we can deduce from this that the fiery lake is a figurative expression. Or do you believe that somewhere in the Millennial kingdom there is a huge lake of fire when everything else in the Kingdom is developing into a paradise?
Satan is an angel and angels are spirits. However, the Antichrist and the false prophet are human. Is the same fire an appropriate punishment for both angels and humans?
The Beast i.e. the Antichrist and his partner, the false prophet will be thrown into the lake of fire at the Second Coming of Jesus. Satan is tied for a thousand years, after which he is let go. Satan gathers a huge army and attacks the Saints, but this army is destroyed. Satan himself is thrown into the lake of fire, where the Antichrist and the false prophet have already been for a thousand years. The punishment of the fiery lake, has been long, at least for these two, but will it continue forever and ever?
Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. If anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire. (Rev 20:14-15)
“Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire”. KJV: “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire”. – The last destroyed is death. No one needs to die anymore, so death can be figuratively cast into the fiery lake. KJV says that “hell” is also thrown into destruction. Like many others, NASB translates that Hades is being destroyed. Hell, or place of torture, is not a good choice of words, because it means that the torture site is thrown into the lake of fire.
Throwing Death and the grave (Hades) of mankind into the fiery lake is a completely figurative expression; it does not include eternal punishment. Death has not broken God’s commandments. Rather, it is an eternal annihilation, the complete destruction of death. Does this mean that the large crowds in the fiery lake will remain there forever because they can no longer die as death no longer exists, but is also destroyed?
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Eternal chains Jude 1:6
aïdios – a synonym for aionios
Jde 1:6 – And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day
7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them, having, in the same way as these, given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire.
Eternal = aïdios G126 – covers the complete philosophical idea — without beginning and without end; also either without beginning or without end; as respects to the past it is applied to what has existed time out of mind
Rom 1:20: For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal (ἀΐδιος G126) power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
In this verse of Judah 6, the word aïdios G126 is used to describe eternity. Strongs describes it as: aïdios G126 – covers the complete philosophical idea – without beginning and without end; Is this word, if possible, even more powerful than aion the common word in the NT? At least it is in no way weaker. The definition of Strongs for aïdios is badly wrong at least for this verse in the Bible; “Without beginning and without end”, we know that the sins of the angels had a clear beginning and a clear end when they were removed from the angelic corps and were put in (figurative) chains!
Is it right to talk about eternal chains? Every reader of the Bible knows that God’s purpose has been to shackle these angels just to wait for judgment. It is certain that the day of God’s judgment will come after the Millennium of Christ. We do not know the exact timing, but in no case, it is the question of eternity. We are waiting for the kingdom to start any time in the near future.
When the angels are given judgment in time, is it truly an eternal punishment in the fiery lake? The Bible doesn’t tell that with absolute certainty. Maybe so if you compare the known judgments to Satan, Antichrist, and the wrong prophet, and others.
αἰώνιος, -ον Strong’s G166:
1. without beginning or end, that which always has been and always will be: θεός, Romans 16:26 (ὁ μόνος αἰώνιος, 2 Macc. 1:25); πνεῦμα, Hebrews 9:14. 2. without beginning: χρόνοις αἰωνίοις, Romans 16:25; πρὸ χρόνων αἰωνίων, 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 1:2; εὐαγγέλιον, a gospel whose subject-matter is eternal, i. e., the saving purpose of God adopted from eternity, Revelation 14:6.
3. without end, never to cease, everlasting: 2 Corinthians 4:18 (opposed to πρόσκαιρος);Conclusion; Without stating, whether the eternal punishment is really God’s punishment for these sinners, at least the two words that the Bible uses to describe the eternal (ἀΐδιος) chains and the eternal (αινιος) punishment, do not prove this, but leave strong doubt about the correctness of the translation.
- Predictions about Jesus
About his birth: Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
Mic 5:2 But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Being small among the clans of Judah, out of you one will come forth to me that is to be ruler in Israel; Whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.As a little boy in Egypt: Hos 11:1 When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
The Son of God: Psa 2:7-8 I will tell of the decree: Jehovah said unto me, Thou art my son; This day have I begotten thee. 8 Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.
John the Baptist, predecessor of Jesus: Mal 3:1 Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, behold, he comes!” says Jehovah of hosts.
How did Jesus teach: Psa 78:2 I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old. Also Mat 13:35: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.” Mar 4:34 Without a parable he didn’t speak to them; but privately to his own disciples, he explained all things.
Healed the blind and deaf: Isa 35:5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Mat 11:5 the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.
Jesus spoke what God commanded: Deut 18:18 I will raise them up a prophet from among their brothers, like you; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him.
The Jews rejected Jesus: Isa 53:3 He was despised, and rejected by men; a man of suffering, and acquainted with disease: and as one from whom men hide their face he was despised; and we didn’t respect him.
He was tortured: Isa 53:7 He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he didn’t open his mouth; as a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is mute, so he didn’t open his mouth.
Jesus was beaten: Isa 50:6 I gave my back to the strikers, and my cheeks to those who plucked off the hair; I didn’t hide my face from shame and spitting.
The clothes of Jesus were divided: Psa 22:18 They divide my garments among them. They cast lots for my clothing.Jesus’ body was pierced: Zec 12:10 I will pour on the house of David, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they will look to me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son, and will grieve bitterly for him, as one grieves for his firstborn.
The bones of Jesus are not broken: Psa 34:20 He protects all of his bones. Not one of them is broken.
Jesus rose from the dead: Psa 16:10 For you will not leave my soul in Sheol, neither will you allow your holy one to see corruption.
Much of the Bible’s content, perhaps as much as one third, are predictions based on the words of God’s prophets. The prophets spoke and wrote down what God had commanded them to speak and write. We can start from the following assumption: if several prophets tell the same thing and if it comes true, it is a miracle. The miracles of the Bible can be denied because there is no proof other than the Bible’s account. Many prophets of the Bible tell us about Jesus, from his birth to his death and resurrection, and the events of his second coming – parousia.
Jewish scholars knew the predictions of the coming Messiah and so did the apostles who wrote the New Testament. In theory, it would be possible that the disciples would have together decided to make up the story of Jesus’ life in line with predictions. Why would they have done so? If they had something to gain from this, it could be possible. However, they did not profit materially. On the contrary, they were subjected to ridicule and persecution and lost their lives because of their faith. But let the reader decide whether such conspiracy is true or do predictions through the prophets of God, prove his Son’s birth and life and his message.
- Bible Numerics
With the word numerics, I do not mean number mysticism or any form of prediction. If you have such a fixed attitude, you are like my acquaintance with whom I was in correspondence; he would not even open my e-mail attachments which included articles on the subject, but outright assured me it is forbidden in the Bible. The question is that the Bible passes through a mathematical formula or a seal of God that is so comprehensive and which can in no way be made by man or by biblical writers.
2 Tim 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God” … and Peter adds: ”for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
The old scriptures often start this way: 1 Cro 22:8 But the word of Jehovah came to me, saying…
The New Testament writers, the apostles, each wrote their writings for several decades after the events took place. Someone may wonder how it is possible that everyone could memorize the events so well and describe them often very closely and in the same way with other writers. There is a simple explanation: Jesus promised to his apostles that they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit would bring to their remembrance all that Jesus had taught them: Jhn 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of all that I have told you.
There are few people who believe that the Bible is true in everything. Even from the first line in the Bible, the creation of the world and man is controversial, and as evidence of science that both man and animals are claimed to be the result of millions of years of evolution. How can it be explained then that the author of the Bible knew that man was created from the dust of the earth? (It might be better to say material from the earth, but with the same meaning). If people were asked two or three thousand years ago what man was made of, the answer would have been something like this: a human being is made of flesh, bones, and blood. If someone claimed that humans consisted mostly of water (70% and water was made up of two gases, hydrogen and oxygen), and also of the following elements: carbon, nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus, then such arguments would have been laughed at. However, the author of the Bible knew that man was made of earth’s ingredients, although these substances were not mentioned.
The Bible is written mainly in Hebrew (OT) and in Greek (NT). Each and every letter in both languages (and Latin also) have a certain number value. The Bible canon has 39 books in the OT and 27 books in the NT. The entire Bible was finished about 1600 years ago. The Old Testament is written by 28 writers (4 × 7) and the New Testaments 8 writers (2x2x2), altogether 36 authors (6 × 6). Of the epistles of the New Testament, Paul has written 14 (2 × 7) and the other 7 are written by other apostles. This ‘seven’ we often encounter.
Bible’s divine numerics – What does the numeric code prove?
Is the Bible actually the very Word of God? 2 Timothy 3:16 explains: All scripture is given by inspiration of God … And Peter adds: “for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” (2 Pet 1:20)
Of this most important question, I have included a chapter of its own in these writings. It essentially contains a testimony of the divine numerics of the Bible. The numerics which cover both the Hebrew Old Testament as well as the Greek New Testament, do not mean any numerology or number mysticism. After having realized this powerful Bible numerics, I believe that the whole Bible is the Word of God, although the pen has been in a man’s hand. So accurate is the word of God that changing a single letter from the original text violates this divine numeric code. However, this has happened: mistakes may have occurred when copying, either inadvertently or deliberately, errors have been made, even additions. However, thousands of preserved texts have been reconstructed fairly well to match the original scriptural text.
The Bible urges us to pay attention to the correctness of the doctrine. Usually, people do not bother their heads with doctrinal questions, but go along with the mass. Arthur Schopenhauer wrote in the early 1800s: There is no opinion, no matter how absurd, that people would not be willing to accept if they are convinced that it is generally accepted.
The Bible is a most difficult book to understand. Of course, there are many teachings that are simple to adopt but also there are verses that have led to doctrines completely unacceptable. I find myself disagreeing with the main churches, both catholic and protestant. I do not want to proclaim to be the teacher of the only truth, but I hope the reader himself will judge what is the truth taught by the Bible.
I hope the notes I have written for myself for further research can also help the reader to understand the word. I’m still searching for the truth and I may write about new topics or adjust my opinion if it proves to be well-grounded by the Bible’s testimony. In Greece, Berean near Thessaloniki were people who, after listening to the teachings of Paul, themselves made sure whether the scriptures were as Paul had taught. For such research, the Bible also encourages. In many homes there is a Bible, but has it ever been opened? Today, there are also a lot of tools available for us to study the Bible online. Church leaders may still see danger today in independent study of the Bible; people may change their minds. I am prepared to do so – if the word of the Bible proves it appropriate.
- The First Seven Words of The Bible
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (in Hebrew בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָֽרֶץ׃ in total 7 words).
This sentence contains three nouns with numeric values 86, 395, and 296, put together 777, which is 111 x 7. Seven is the number of perfection of God and 777 reflects perfection in its highest form.
The verb of the sentence ”created” has a numeric value of 203, which can be divided by the number 7 (29×7).
If we count the sum of the numeric values of the first and last letters of each word in each sentence we have a total of 1393, which is divisible by 7, 199 x 7 is 1393. If the sum of the first and last letters of the first and last words of the sentence is considered, then it (497) is also divisible by 7 (71 x 7). Also for the five words in the middle of the sentence, in the same way, we get 896, which can also be equally divided by 7.
The number of letters in these seven words is 28, 4 x 7.
The first three Hebrew words, In the beginning /created / God, the number of letters is 14 or 2 x 7. This is also the case with the last words.
When we look at the number of letters in the subject (God) and the object (heavens, earth), it is 14 or 2 x 7. The same with the rest of the words.
The shortest word in the sentence is in the middle of the sentence. The number of letters in that word and the word on its left side is 7 altogether. Additionally, the number of letters in the middle word and in the word on the right of that word is also 7.
According to Ivan Panin, number seven reflects God’s perfection and perfect order. Number seven is found in the Old Testament 287 times (41 × 7 = 287) while “seventh” appears 98 times (14 × 7 = 98) and “Seventy” 56 times (8 × 7 = 56).
Here are some examples of the miraculous appearances of the number seven, which are found altogether over 30 times in the first words of the Bible. To find these features you need to look for them. Karl Sabiers wrote about these findings in his book “Mathematics Prove Holy Scriptures”, p. 21-27. Sabiers, who is deeply acquainted with Panin’s studies, writes: ”Genuine scripture, both Hebrew and Greek, where the numbers equivalent with the letters are added up properly, at some point: word, sentence, paragraph, or chapter, will always be divisible by the number seven!”
In both the Hebrew OT and the Greek NT, a single letter error may transform the meaning of the sentence to be opposite. By looking at two different translations based on their numerical value, the correct translation can be chosen. This can also be done with the Greek text. The author of the book above (pp. 91-94) gives an example of the last word of the Book of Revelation: Is the very last word ”amen” or ”saints,” as translates Wescott and Hort? Using a numeric calculation the issue is resolved and it can be stated that the word Amen is not part of the sentence. Jesus said meaningfully: Mat 5:18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not one letter or one stroke of a letter will disappear from the Law until everything has been accomplished.
…The inclusion of numbers seven and some other numbers throughout the Bible will be further discussed below. When examining their presence, one can not avoid thinking about the importance of the matter. Is it coincidental? Is the whole issue just “hoo-ha” as one person wrote in a net chat room. Below I am writing about a mathematician named Ivan Panin, who a hundred years ago spent fifty years studying the Bible Numerics, especially in the New Testament. He came to the conclusion that this could not be a coincidence, nor was it that the various writers would have developed this code through the whole NT.
If that is the case, I will come to a rather shocking conclusion; The author of the Bible is God Himself, and the role of each apostle has only been to keep the pen in his hand. Most people do not believe in the whole mathematic code. But I do. Ivan Panin was also deeply disappointed with the general reaction. He imagined that his calculations of tens of thousands of pages would open people’s eyes, and the word of the Bible would have a whole new emphasis on people’s minds. However, people did not believe him and his research was forgotten. How true is the Bible´s statement about people…
”seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand” (Luke 8:10)
- What Do Certain Numbers Symbolize in The Bible?
Consider the symbolism of some numbers in the Bible.
When looking at the figures in the scriptures, attention should be paid not only to the number in question, but in particular to find out how many times that number appears in different writings. With current information technology, it’s easy. As we look at how many times that number exists in a particular context, the meaning of God’s word becomes apparent. In this way, the symbolism of God’s Word becomes evident. For example: Number 8 reflects a new beginning. Jesus was born in Bethlehem. God’s word is confirmed by the fact that the word Bethlehem appears in the New Testament just eight times. In the Old Testament, Bethlehem appears countless times, but Bethlehem does not have the same meaning in the Old Testament in describing the birthplace of Jesus Christ as the new beginning of mankind.
All this system of numbers and their symbolism is from God. How could all these numerous writers during 1500 years have been able to follow these writing rules without divine guidance.
The number of occurrences of a particular number is one of the biblical attributes. I will also look at biblical figures that are larger than numbers only. The total numeric value of letters in the name of Jesus is 888: Jesus in Greek is Ἰησοῦς Iēsous and the numeric sum of his name’s letters is: 10 + 8 + 200 + 70 +400 + 200= 888. The numeric sum of the Bible’s most significant Beast is 666. More on the Beast in my article.
This could be a coincidence if it was the only one, but the Bible is full of such “coincidences”. Are these just random numbers or do they have some deep significance? Let us consider the symbolism of some other numbers in the Bible.
Number 1
The number 1 is said to mean unity and oneness. What do those words actually mean? John 10:30 says I and the Father are one. This example was from the NENT but this is quite a typical translation. And another one: “The glory which you have given me I have given them, that they may be ONE, just as We are ONE” (Joh 17:22).
The translation means that God the Father and Jesus are in fact like one and the same God.
The widely accepted translation says: 1 John 5: 7-8: 7 And there are three who give testimony in Heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one. 8 And there are three that give testimony on the earth: the spirit, and the water, and the blood; and these three are one. – In 1 John 5: 7-8, which I have dealt with in a separate article, there is another way of translating this unity/oneness: NENT translation has found a good wording: 7 And it is the Spirit that witnesseth, for the Spirit is the truth. 8 Because the witnessing ones are three: the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and the three agree in one. –That is the question here; the heavenly ‘management team’ is in agreement. They are not together one God, but God the Father is the one and only God. I am explaining my meaning in more detail in chapter 3.
During the millennial kingdom, the world is unified in Christ. Zec 14:9: The Lord will be king over all the earth. In that day shall the Lord be one, and his name one. – Who is this Lord? Am. Std. shows us: ”And Jehovah shall be King over all the earth: in that day shall Jehovah be one, and his name one”. Sure, we have God the Father in addition to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Lord, and also the Holy Spirit of God.
Number 3
3 is the number of Divine completeness, which is called the Trinity. The proof is said to be found in Mat 28.19: ”Therefore go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”, implying three persons in one.
According to Matthew, this is what Jesus said to his disciples in Galilee where they met when Jesus was resurrected. What a wonderful proof of trinity. Pity it is a forgery. See my justification in an article about baptism: ”Baptism in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit”.
God has three overall qualities; he is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. When speaking of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, do they all meet these three attributes? This is also to be considered on the basis of the writings on this site. What did Jesus say about himself? Did he claim to be almighty or did he just say and do what God commanded him to do? Did God raise him above all creation, did God give him eternal life? Jesus said before his ascension to heaven that God has given him all the power in heaven and on earth. Should not the Almighty have such power without being given to him?
In fact, God has given power over the earth to Satan. Not permanently, but for a definite time until the coming of the millennial kingdom of God, whose king is Christ. Sure, God is almighty and he could interfere with Satan’s administration at any time, but he will not do it. Why? Because he has given the earth to Satan. Luk 4:6 He [Satan] said to Jesus, “I will give you all this authority and the glory of these kingdoms. For it has been given to me, and I give it to anyone I please.
Number 4
4 is the number that describes the world. In the world, there are four cardinal directions. Even in ancient times, four elements were identified: land, air, fire, and water. There are four seasons: spring, summer, fall, and winter. The day has four parts: morning, day, evening and night. God decided, after having created the material world in four days to create the animals on the fifth and man on the sixth day.
Prophet Daniel saw the vision (Dan 2:37) of four consecutive world powers and the four beasts that describe these powers (Dan 7: 1).
Number 6
From number 6 it is said that it is the number of incomplete human. Seven reflects perfection, but number 6 expresses sin and Satan’s impact on human life. This sin brought by Satan culminated in the early days of the Bible when Cain killed his brother Abel. The 6th commandment says “You shall not murder” (KJV ”kill”).
The greatest beast that has not yet emerged is the Antichrist according to the Revelation. The Antichrist is a direct translation of the Greek word ἀντίχριστος antikristos. This Antichrist is a man to whom Satan gives his great power. The number of the Antichrist is 666, it is the number of the Beast. Revelation, therefore, calls upon the one who has the understanding to count the number of the beast. Rev 13:18 Here is wisdom. He who has understanding, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is six hundred sixty-six.
In six different parts of the Bible (Mar 3:22, Luke 11:15, John 7:20, 8:48, 8:52, 10:20), Jesus was claimed to be possessed by Beelzebub or that Jesus casts out the demons by the help of the ruler of the demons.
When Jesus was crucified there was darkness over all the land from the sixth hour unto the ninth hour (Mat 27:45)
Number 7
Number 7 describes spiritual perfection. The Word of God is seven times purged completely. Psa 12: 6 The words of Jehovah are pure words; As silver tried in a furnace on the earth, purified seven times. Isa 34:16 says, Seek you out of the book of Jehovah, and read: no one of these shall be missing, none shall want her mate; for my mouth, it has commanded, and his [my] Spirit, it has gathered them.
“According to Jesus’ words: … until heaven and earth disappear, not one letter [Lit. one iota] or one stroke of a letter will disappear from the Law (Mat 5:18).
Number 7 is repeated several times in the Book of Revelation; seven golden candlesticks, seven letters to seven congregations, a book scroll sealed with seven seals, seven angels standing in front of God, seven trumpets, seven thunder-like spirits of God and the last seven scourges. In the Book of Revelation, there are more than fifty such occurrences of number 7.
God created the world during seven ‘days’. The word day ‘yowm’ can mean more than just a normal day, but a time span. When God’s calendar tells us that one day is like a thousand years, some Christians believe in God creating the world in 6,000 years. “Like a thousand years” is, however, only a figurative expression when it comes to creation. However, from Adam, the first person of the Bible to Jesus, it has passed 4,000 years and from the death of Jesus almost 2000 years, or altogether 6,000 years or six ’days’. At the end of the sixth day, there are many events that I write about in the ‘end time’ articles. Day 7 is the holy day of rest of God and the day of the Kingdom of God (Millennial Kingdom), which is reigned by Christ and by the saints.
Day 7 was the day of God’s rest, and he also showed that day to people as a day of rest, Sabbath. Every 7th year was a special year: 5 Moos 15: 1-15 1 At the end of every seven years you shall make a release. 2 And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release that which he has lent unto his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother; because Jehovah’s release has been proclaimed.
The occurrence of number 7 in the symbolism of the scriptures is very common. There are some thirty combinations of seven in the Bible’s first paragraph alone.
One more point is to be noted; the numeric sum of the three nouns in the opening sentence of the Bible i.e. God, heaven, and earth is 777. The spiritual completeness in the sum of the three sevens discloses most strongly God’s purpose.Number 8
New beginning. In the word Χριστός Christos i.e. Christ the sum of the numeric values is 1480 or 8 x 185. Jesus was also a Savior, the sum of the numbers of the word ”Savior” is 1408 or 2 x 8 x 88. Jesus is the Messiah: 656 or 8 x 82. Jesus is the Lord: 800 or 8 x 100. The Son of Man: numeric value is 2960, or 8 x 370. The Son of Man appears in the Bible 88 times.
Jesus said: I am the truth: the truth is 64 (8 x 8).
The Book of Revelation has 888 words.
The Book of Revelation tells about the beast and challenges to calculate its number: Rev 13:18 ”Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six”.
In the word Χριστός Christos i.e. Christ the sum of the numeric values is 1480 or 8 x 185. Jesus was also a Savior, the sum of the numbers of the word ”Savior” is 1408 or 2 x 8 x 88. Jesus is the Messiah: 656 or 8 x 82. Jesus is the Lord: 800 or 8 x 100. The Son of Man: numeric value is 2960, or 8 x 370. The Son of Man appears in the Bible 88 times.
When you add 1 to the number of perfection i.e. 7, a new number that reflects a new beginning, a new birth is obtained. Originally, the last day of the week was Saturday and Sunday was the 8th day and the first day of the new starting week.
Number 8 relates specifically to Jesus. The numeric sum of the Greek name of Jesus is 888, i.e. eight expressed in the strongest possible terms. 888 consists of two parts, that is, 24 x 37. 24 is divided into 6 x 4. 6 depicts that Jesus became like a human and 4 means in the world. In this way, Jesus manifests two characteristics; the man and the world.
The sum of the letters in the word Christ is 1480 or 8 x 185.
Jesus was also a Savior, the sum of the numbers is 1408 or 2 x 8 x 88.
Jesus is the Messiah: 656 or 8 x 82.
Jesus is the Lord: 800 or 8 x 100.
The numeric value of Son of Man is 2960 or 8 x 370. The Son of Man appears in the Bible 88 times.Jesus is called: Lord, the numeric sum of the letters is 800; Jesus, the sum is 888; Christ, the sum is 1480; Total sum 3168
This figure appears in various writings, but always emphasizing the characteristics of Jesus Christ. 1 Timothy 2:5 says: ”For God is one, also there is one Mediator of God and of men, the Man Christ Jesus”. The numeric sum of the phrase “one mediator between God and of men” is 3168.
Isa 53:11 tells of Jesus’ forthcoming role: ”He shall see the fruit of the travail of His soul; He shall be fully satisfied. By His knowledge shall My righteous Servant justify for many, and He shall bear their iniquities”. — The sum of the values of the Hebrew letters in this verse is also 3168, which confirms the role of Jesus as a sacrifice for mankind and the high priest.
Jesus said: I am the truth: the truth is 64 (8 x 8).
Psa 98:3 ”He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. In Hebrew, this is “Yeshoth Elohenu” which sums to 888! An important but ambiguous question is: does the “salvation of our God” refer to Jesus or Jehovah? The numeric value of this phrase is 888 and it could refer to Jesus as Jesus made salvation for all believers. But, does “our God” refer to Jesus, not necessarily. Salvation comes ultimately from God the Father, who gave Jesus the task of redeeming mankind from sin.
Noah’s Ark saved 8 people in the destruction of the entire humanity. These 8 started a new episode in the new beginning of mankind.
The OT tells that if a leper was cleansing, he should be brought to the on the eighth day (3 Moos 14: 10,23). 10 And on the eighth day he shall take two flawless lambs … 23 And he shall bring them unto the priest for his cleansing on the eighth day.
– When Jesus and Nicodemus discussed salvation, Jesus mentioned rebirth as a condition of salvation, 8 times during the conversation (Joh 3: 1-8). When Jesus spoke of living water with the Samaritans, Jesus mentioned the word water 8 times (John 4: 4-15).Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and his birth brought new hope to mankind. Bethlehem is mentioned in NT 8 times (Mat 2: 1, 5,6,8,16 Luk 2: 4,15, Joh 7:42) in connection with Jesus. Bethlehem is mentioned 37 times at VT.
Number 9
Nine is the number of finality or perfection itself. The number is so special that if it is multiplied by any other number, the sum of numbers is always 9. For example: 9 x 8 = 72 and 7 + 2 = 9. In the first sentence of the Bible Moses writes: “In the beginning God”. The sum of the numeric values of these words is 999.
The next sum of the word ”heaven” is also 999.
The fruits of the Holy Ghost for believers are listed in the Bible nine different kinds: Gal 5: 22-23 ”But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
The sums of numeric values of the words “amen” and “true” are 99 and these appear in the Bible 99 times.
Jesus’ work was completed when he died on the cross on the ninth hour of the day.
Number 13
Satan has many names:
Dragon has a numeric value 975 or 13 x 75 (is mentioned in Revelation 13 times) Tempter 1053 13 x 81
Belial 78 13 x 6
Serpent 780 13 x 60
Murderer 1820 13 x 140
Antichrist 1911 13 x 147
Demon 975 13 x 75
Adversary 364 13 x 28
Mark lists 13 evil attributes which Jesus spoke of and which come from the hearts of people: Mar 7:21 For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil thoughts come, as well as sexual immorality, stealing, murder, 22 adultery, greed, wickedness, cheating, shameless lust, envy, slander, arrogance, and foolishness.
In the biblical gematria number 13 may also occur against Satan. The words “Jesus of Nazareth” were contained in a table set above the crucified Jesus, where there was written “Jesus the Nazarene King of the Jews.” Jesus of Nazareth has a numeric value 2197 or 13x13x13. It’s just a coincidence?
Number 17
17 is the number of victory and salvation. Gen 8:4 The ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat.
The Acts list the events of the Pentecost when the apostles came all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, according to what the Spirit gave them. The Bible lists 17 different areas and tongues when the Holy Spirit came upon them. Act 2:8-11 8 So how is it that each one of us hears them speaking in his own native language? 9 We are Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, 10 Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the district of Libya near Cyrene, and visitors from Rome. 11 We are Jews, proselytes, Cretans, and Arabs. Yet we hear them telling in our own tongues the great deeds of God!”
The name of the holy city of Jerusalem or Jerusalem is mentioned in the Psalms 17 times (Psa 51-147).
1 John 5:4 because everyone who is born from God has overcome the world. Our faith is the victory that overcomes the world.
Number 37
Number 37 is the number of God’s Word. Jesus is the image of God according to the Scripture. 2 Cor 4:4 … Christ who is the image of God. Col 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn above all of creation. – The sum of the numeric values of the letters “God’s Image” is 1369 or 37 x 37. The sum of the numeric values of the first verse ” In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth ” is 2701 or 73 x 37. “the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” is 1369, or 37 x 37.
Number 37 signifies the word of God and number 24 refers to the priesthood. Jesus, therefore, is not only the word of God, but also the high priest. Heb 5:5 So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become a high priest, but He speaking to Him, “You are My Son; today I have begotten You.” 6 As He also says in another place, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek,”
In certain verses the numeric sum of 37 is the sum for God, only Son and only begotten. 2 × 37 = 74 is the sum of a great God, their Redeemer, and everlasting. 3 × 37 = 111 is the sum of wonderful and the Most High, Son of the Living God and Lord of all. From these examples, we see that number 37 and its multiples always refer to God or the attributes of God.
Number 40
Number 40 embodies the trial or testing period. Everyone knows the 40-year-old Israeli peregrination in the wilderness after leaving Egypt (5 Moos 8). Several shorter 40-day trials are known in the Bible: and [Moses] went up on the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights (2 Moos 24:18). Jonah preached; “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” (Jon 3:4). However, the destruction did not come at all because they repented of their deeds.
Jesus went to the wilderness to fast. He spent 40 days in the wilderness where he was tempted by Satan (Luke 4:1-2).
Jesus spent after his resurrection 40 days on earth before he ascended to heaven (Acts 1:3).
Number 40 is obtained when the number of the world 4 is multiplied by the number of law 10. The number reflects people fallen in most varied temptations and trials. The same figure is obtained when the number 8 which tells of the new person is multiplied by 5, the number of mercy; the result 40 describes a person who can endure the trial.
1 Corinthians 10:13 says that … God is faithful, and he will not allow you to be tempted beyond your strength. Instead, along with the temptation he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to endure it.
Number 50
Number 50 is the number of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was shed on Pentecost in Jerusalem. The Apostles saw fiery tongues that set above each one of them. The Apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different languages (Acts 2: 1-4).
Every 50th year was in Israel a year of jubilee. 3 Moos 25:10 25:10 and you shall make the fiftieth year holy, a year. And you shall proclaim liberty in the land to all its inhabitants; it shall be a jubilee to you. And you shall return every man to his possession; yea, you shall turn back each to his family.
Number 153
The number is obtained by multiplying 17 by the number 9. 17 is the number of the victory and the number 9 describes the fruit of the Spirit. The figure 153 is also obtained by summing all numbers from 1 to 17. The sum will be 153. Do you remember where the number 153 is known? That is the number of fish the apostles got with the net. The Apostles were fishing but did not receive any fish. Jesus cried to them for instructions on throwing the net and the fishnet began to fill up (Joh 21:11). Jesus said earlier to Peter and his brother Andrew: Mat 4:19 “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” The Greek word ἰχθύς Ichthys means fish and its numeric value is 1224 or 8 x 153. The value of the fishnet δίκτυον is the same.
Fishing for people, of course, means proclaiming the gospel and turning people into followers of Jesus. At best, “fishing” people can produce big catch; For example, in Pentecost, the apostles received three thousand men to be baptized.
What should we think about gematria?
In addition to the numbers and figures I have just written, there are many other numbers with symbolic significance. Many are against the mere idea of numbers in the Bible. However, we must admit the numbers found in the Bible are real. There are so many of them that their presence cannot be considered as a coincidence.
When we think about the occurrence of these numbers and their symbolic significance and the whole mathematical code that passes through the Bible – the questions to the very existence of the code and the significance of it are exactly the same as the ones I have just mentioned regarding these symbolic numbers. Are all these numbers and mathematics in the Bible from God? The Bible is God’s Word, therefore, should not all the contents of it be from God?
One of the Bible scholars I esteem is seriously of the opinion that some books should not be included in the Bible. In any case, some books are less valuable and significant than others. In addition, there are falsified texts and additions in the Bible. In his opinion, if I understand correctly, only the text of the Bible is important and you should pay no attention to the numeric mumbo jumbo. A Jehovah’s Witness I know would not even open my email when I told him about the article I had sent him.
It is true that the Bible has been subject to unauthorized additions. It could have been, say, the Catholic monks, who have considered some clarification have been necessary in the Bible. However, there are controversial and difficult interpretations in the Bible. Can you imagine a time when reading the Bible in English was illegal and led to legal action and even be burned? Today we have computer programs for studying the Bible and every word in it. I know that modern computer programs bring forth new startling revelations for the clarification and testimony of God’s word.
My own perception and belief is that God is behind all the Scriptures and the writers have, by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, written the Bible text. God has deliberately chosen his word so that finding His true will is behind hard work. But as Jesus said in Mat 5:18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not one letter or one stroke of a letter will disappear from the Law …
- The Concealed Mathematical Code of the Bible
Throughout the Bible, there is a complex, multilevel and coherent mathematical code that would have been impossible to produce by human means.
Ivan Panin, one of the most famous mathematicians of his time, found a Hebrew and Greek numeric value encoding, whereby the entire text of the Bible is “sealed” so that no letter can be changed without breaking it. This code is included in the entire Bible – having 33 authors in about 1500 years
No other existing text, such as apocryphal books, some of which is included in the Catholic Bible, has not found a similar attribute. The code presented by Panin can not be denied. Surveyors have, however, argued that any number of words can be calculated from any book.
I guess so, but no other book has a consistent and repetitive code running through the whole book confirming the accuracy of the biblical text like a confirmatory seal.
2 Tim. 3:16 says: All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness 2 Pet says: 1:20-21 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
I must emphasize that Panin does not try to predict anything with these codes. It is not a doctrine based on number mysticism, nothing like Kabbala. No other existing text, such as apocryphal books, some of which is included in the Catholic Bible, has not found a similar attribute. Panin’s main message is in my opinion, that God is the writer of the Bible; He has used the prophets to deliver the divine message exactly as God has dictated. The prophet held the pen in hand but it was God who dictated the message. How is it possible that 33 different writers over 1,600 years followed the code in a way that the code remained unchanged from one book to another. For God, it has only been possible.
Ivan Panin was born in Russia on December 12, 1855, and as a young man, he was an active Nihilist, one who was so “turned off” by the inane circumstances surrounding him that he adopted the attitude that all values were worthless and nothing was knowable or communicable. He apparently detested the Czarist government so much that he participated in various plots against it and eventually was forced into political exile. From there he moved to Germany where he spent a number of years furthering his education. When he left Germany he immigrated to the United States and soon entered Harvard University.
Ivan Panin became widely known as a confirmed agnostic, so well known, in fact, that when he renounced agnosticism and embraced Jesus Christ, several newspapers carried banner headlines announcing his conversion! Upon hearing of this remarkable turn of events, Professor James, who was reputed to be the greatest Metaphysician of his day remarked, “What a pity that Mr. Panin is cracked on religion. A great philosopher was spoiled in him.”
What event made this brilliant and gifted man, one firmly convinced that absolute truth (“God”) was unknowable, change his mind? What so challenged his intellect and shook him to the very core of his being that he was left with no alternative but belief in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior? The answer is this: He made the scientific discovery that should have shaken the entire world! (The fact that it has not yet done so and has been quietly disregarded by those who should have been its greatest advocates is one of the great mysteries of our time!)
One day in 1890, Mr. Panin was casually reading the first verse of the Gospel of John in the original Koine Greek. This verse, in the original, says: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with the God, and the Word was God.” And as he read this sentence, his curiosity was stirred by the fact that the definite article “the” preceded “God” in the first instance, but not the second. Why the difference? To analyze this apparent discrepancy, he made a parallel list of all verses in the New Testament in which the word “God” occurs with the article “the” and all those without it. Then when he compared the two lists he noted that there was a mathematical relationship between the two sums. Next, he went through the same procedure for the word “Christ” and on through several other words. each time taking note of the amazing numeric relationships hidden beneath the surface of the text. This “chance” observation would later prove to have been a life-changing event as Ivan Panin enthusiastically pursued the newly-found and exciting discovery he later named “Bible Numerics.”
As these discoveries began to unfold, one after another, Dr. Panin quickly came to the realization that they were far more than just coincidence. There was a mathematical precision inherent to the entire Bible that no mere mortal could have devised and his intellectual objections relative to an unknowable God were overruled! Jesus Christ revealed Himself through His Word to this “chosen vessel” and, like the apostle Paul and a host of others, Ivan Panin was never the same man again.
From that day in 1890 until he died on October 30, 1942, Ivan Panin literally devoted his life (over 50 years) to fully developing this discovery and preserving it for the world. The following is a description of Dr. Panin by Mr. Karl Sabiers, in his book “Mathematics Prove Holy Scriptures.” It was originally published in 1941, while Mr. Panin was still alive:
“This distinguished person is a man of extra-ordinary resources in scholarship. He is keen-minded and alert and possesses amazing analytical and dissecting ability. He is eminently open and scientific. He assumes nothing, but bases all on observed facts. …”This man chose a life of frugality in order to serve his Master by counting words, letters, syllables, and Bible numbers, preserving his findings in neat, hand-written notes now yellowed with age, all 40,000+ pages of them! Mr. Panin … points out that the Apostles left little or no life stories of themselves, but exalted Christ instead”.
Ivan Panin found the numeric seal with which God has sealed the texts of the Bible so that no letter can be changed in texts without breaking the seal. The seal also works in the opposite direction. It can be used to check whether the copier has made any mistakes! Ivan Panin used a Greek manuscript written by Westcott & Hort. From the alternative interpretations given by Westcott & Hort, Ivan Panin was able to select the one which carried out the numerical system of the divine text. This revised Greek manuscript, Ivan Panin published with the name “Numeric Greek New Testament” with 514 pages and printed by the Oxford University Press. “Numeric English New Testament” (can be read online) is his translation from the Numeric Greek New Testament. It is the most accurate translation of the New Testament available.
Panin said: When I had made this observation, I was of course exceedingly enthusiastic as was Archimedes who after resolving a great mathematical problem while taking a bath, rushed into the street naked shouting ‘I solved it.’ “I thought people would be happy about my new observation, but I found that human nature has not changed anymore. So I continued my work quietly alone”
Panin gave his work to nine major scientists to criticize; he did not receive any answers from any of them. None of the scientists wanted to look at his observations publicly. Over a hundred years have now passed since the publication of the article. It can be said that it is almost completely forgotten. Not a miracle in itself; most people, though, do not study the Bible, even as they are so-called in the Bible. It seems to be enough for people to visit church sometimes, perhaps at Christmas or on Easter. Those who are more active and are visiting their church weekly do not actively seek Bible truth in the scriptures. They are content with what they get from their priests. Who is looking for the original apostolic word of the Bible?
Letter to the New York Sun – By Ivan Panin
For some months proceeding Sunday, November 19, 1899, the New York Sun had been devoting the better part of a page of its Sunday edition to the discussion of the truth of Christianity. On that date, it printed a letter from one W.R.L., in which he denounced Christianity, using the old oft-refuted “arguments,” and challenged “some champion of orthodoxy to come into the arena of the Sun,” and give its readers some “facts” in defense of the Christian religion. The writer had not seen the N.Y. Sun for years; but on his way from South Framingham to Grafton, Massachusetts, a copy of the Sun of that date, left on a vacant seat in the train, ‘fell into his hands.’ The following letter met that challenge.
The letter was reprinted by the writer himself in a pamphlet of some fifty pages with the Greek text of Matthew i, 1-17 and the vocabularies thereto, enabling the scholarly reader to verify his statements for himself.
Sir: – In to-day’s Sun Mr. W.R.L. calls for a “champion of orthodoxy” to “step into the arena of the Sun;’ and give him some “facts.” Here are some facts:
The first 17 verses of the New Testament contain the genealogy of the Christ. It consists of two main parts: Verses 1-11 cover the period from Abraham, the father of the chosen people, to the Captivity, when they ceased as an independent people. Verses 12-17 cover the period from the Captivity to the promised Deliverer, the Christ.
Let us examine the first part of this genealogy.
Its vocabulary has 49 words, or 7 x 7. This number is itself seven (Feature 1) sevens (Feature 2), and the sum of its factors is 2 sevens (Feature 3). Of these 49 words 28, or 4 sevens, begin with a vowel; and 21, or 3 sevens, begin with a consonant (Feature 4).
Again: these 49 words of the vocabulary have 266 letters, or 7 x 2 x 19; this number is itself 38 sevens (Feature 5), and the sum of its factors is 28, or 4 sevens (Feature 6), while the sum of its figures is 14, or 2 sevens (Feature 7). Of these 266 letters, moreover, 140, or 20 sevens, are vowels, and 126, or 18 sevens, are consonants (Feature 8).That is to say: Just as the number of words in the vocabulary is a multiple of seven, so is the number of its letters a multiple of seven; just as the sum of the factors of the number of the words is a multiple of seven, so is the sum of the factors of the number of their letters a multiple of seven. And just as the number of words is divided between vowel words and consonant words by sevens, so is their number of letters divided between vowels and consonants by sevens.
Again: Of these 49 words 35, or 5 sevens, occur more than once in the passage; and 14, or 2 sevens, occur but once (Feature 9); seven occur in more than one form, and 42, or 6 sevens, occur in only one form (Feature 10). And among the parts of speech, the 49 words are thus divided: 42, or 6 sevens, are nouns, seven are not nouns (Feature 12). Of the nouns 35 or 5 sevens, are Proper names, seven are common nouns (Feature 12). Of the Proper names, 28 are male ancestors of the Christ, and seven are not (Feature 13).Moreover, these 49 words are distributed alphabetically thus: Words under A-E are 21 in number, or 3 sevens; Z-K 14, or 2 sevens; M-X also 14. No other groups of sevens stopping at the end of a letter are made by these 49 words, the groups of sevens stop with these letters and no others. But the letters A, E, Z, K, M, X, are letters 1, 5, 6, 10, 12, 22, of the Greek alphabet, and the sum of these numbers (called their Place Values) is 56, or 8 sevens (Feature 14).
This enumeration of the numeric phenomena of these 11 verses does not begin to be exhaustive, but enough has been shown to make it clear that this part of the genealogy is constructed on an elaborate design of sevens.
Let us not turn to the genealogy as a whole. I will not weary your readers with recounting all the numeric phenomena thereof: pages alone would exhaust them. I will point out only one feature: The New Testament is written in Greek. The Greeks had no separate symbols for expressing numbers, corresponding to our Arabic figures, but used instead the letters of their alphabet: just as the Hebrews, in whose language the Old Testament is written, made use for the same purpose of theirs.
Accordingly, the 24 Greek letters stand for the following numbers: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800. Every Greek word is thus a sum in arithmetic obtained by adding the numbers for which its letters stand, or their numeric values. Now the vocabulary to the entire genealogy has 72 words.
If we write its numeric value over each of these 72 words, and add them, we get for their sum 42,364, or 6,052 sevens, distributed into the following alphabetical groups only: A-B, have 9.821, or 1,403 sevens: G-D, 1904, or 272 sevens; 3,703, or 529 sevens; TH-R, 19,264, or 2,752 sevens; A-X 7,672, or 1,096 sevens. But the numeric value of the 10 letters used for making these groups is 931, or 7 x 7 x 19, a multiple not only of seven but of seven sevens.
Let Mr. W.R.L. try to write some 300 words intelligently like this genealogy, and reproduce some numeric phenomena of like designs. If he does it in 6 months, he will indeed do a wonder. Let us assume that Matthew accomplished this feat in one month.
2. The second part of this chapter, verses 18-25, relates the birth of Christ. It consists of 161 words, or 23 sevens; occurring in 105 forms, or 15 sevens, with a vocabulary of 77 words or 11 sevens. Joseph is spoken to here by the angel. Accordingly, of the 77 words, the angel uses 28, or 4 sevens; of the 105 forms he uses 35, or 5 sevens; the numeric value of the vocabulary is 52,605, or 7,515 sevens; of the forms, 65,429, or 9,347 sevens.
This enumeration only begins as it were to barely scratch the surface of the numerics of this passage. But what is especially noteworthy here is the fact that the angel’s speech has also a scheme of sevens making it a kind of ring within a ring, a wheel within a wheel. If Mr. L. can write a similar passage of 161 words with the same scheme of sevens alone (though there are several others here) in some three years, he would accomplish a still greater wonder. Let us assume Matthew accomplished this feat in only 6 months.
3. The second chapter of Matthew tells of the childhood of the Christ. Its vocabulary has 161 words, or 23 sevens, with 896 letters, or 128 sevens, and 238 forms, or 34 sevens; the numeric value of the vocabulary is 123,529, or 17,647 sevens; of the forms, 166,985, or 23,855 sevens; and so on through pages of enumeration. This chapter has at least four logical divisions, and each division shows alone the same phenomena found in the chapter as a whole. Thus the first six verses have a vocabulary of 56 words, or 8 sevens, etc. There are some speeches here: Herod speaks, the Magi speak, the angel speaks. But so pronounced are the numeric phenomena here, that though there are as it were numerous rings within rings, and wheels within wheels, each is perfect in itself, though forming all the while only part of the rest.
If Mr. L. can write a chapter like this as naturally as Matthew writes, but containing in some 500 words so many intertwined yet harmonious numeric features, in say the rest of his days – whatever his age now, or the one to which he is to attain: if he thus accomplish it at all, it will indeed be marvel of marvels. Let us assume that Matthew accomplished this feat in only 3 years.
4. There is not, however, a single paragraph of the scores in Matthew that is not constructed in exactly the same manner. Only with each additional paragraph the difficulty of constructing it increases not in arithmetical but in geometrical progression. For he contrives to write numeric relations to what goes before and after. Thus in his last chapter, he contrives to use just 7 words not used by him before.
It would thus be easy to show that Mr. L. would require some centuries to write a book like Matthew’s. How long it took Matthew the writer does not know. But how he contrived to do it between the Crucifixion, A.D.30 (and his Gospel could not have been written earlier), and the destruction of Jerusalem, A.D.70 (and the Gospel could not have been written later), let Mr. L. and his like-minded explain.
Anyhow Matthew did it, and we thus have a miracle – an unheard-of literary, mathematical artist, unequaled, hardly even conceivable. This is the first fact for Mr. L. to contemplate.
A second fact is yet more important: In his very first section, the genealogy discussed above, the words found nowhere else in the New Testament, occur 42 times, 7 x 6; and have 126 letters, 7 x 6 x 3, each number a multiple not only of seven, but of 6 sevens, to name only two of the many numeric features of these words.
But how did Matthew know, when designing this scheme for these words (whose sole characteristic is that they are found nowhere else in the New Testament) that they would not be found in the other 26 books? that they would not be used by the other 7 New Testament writers? Unless we assume the impossible hypothesis that he had an agreement with them to that effect, he must have had the rest of the New Testament before him when he wrote his book. The Gospel of Matthew, then, was written last.
5. It so happens, however, that the Gospel of Mark shows the very same phenomena. Thus the very passage called so triumphantly in today’s Sun a “forgery,” the Last Twelve Verses of Mark, presents among some sixty features of sevens the following phenomena: It has 175 words, or 95 sevens; a vocabulary of 98 words, or 2 sevens of sevens with 553 letters, or 79 sevens; 133 forms, or 19 sevens, and so on to the minutest detail.
Mark, then, is another miracle, another unparalleled literary genius. And in the same way in which it was shown that Matthew wrote last, it is also shown that Mark, too, wrote last. Thus to take an example from this very passage: It has just one word found nowhere else in the New Testament, ‘deadly’. This fact is signaled by no less than seven features of sevens thus: Its numeric value is 581, or 83 sevens, with the sum of its figures 14, or 2 sevens, of which the letters 3, 5, 7, from both the BEGINNING and END of the word have 490, or 7 x 7 x 5 x 2: a multiple of seven sevens, with the sum of its factors 21, or 3 sevens.
In the vocabulary it is preceded by 42 words, 7 x 6; in the passage itself by 126 words, or 7 x 6 x 3, both numbers multiples not only of seven, but of 6 sevens. We have thus established before us this third fact for Mr. L. to contemplate: Matthew surely wrote after Mark, and Mark just as surely wrote after Matthew.
6. It happens, however, to be a fourth fact, that Luke presents the same phenomena as Matthew and Mark; and so does John, and James, and Peter, and Jude, and Paul. And we have thus no longer two great unheard-of mathematical literati, but eight of them and each wrote after the other.
7. And not only this: As Luke and Peter wrote each 2 books, John 5, and Paul 14, it can, in the same way, be shown that each of the 27 New Testament books was written last. In fact, not a page of the over 500 in Westcott and Hort’s Greek edition (which the writer has used throughout) but it can be demonstrated thus to have been written last.
The phenomena are there and there is no human way of explaining them. Eight men cannot each write last, 97 books, some 500 pages cannot each be written first. But once assume that one Mind directed the whole, and the problem is solved simply enough; but this is Verbal Inspiration – of every jot and tittle of the New Testament.
There remains only to be added that by precisely the same kind of evidence the Hebrew Old Testament is proved to be equally inspired. Thus the very first verse of Genesis has seven words, 28 letters, or 4 sevens: to name only two out of the dozens of numeric features of this one verse of only seven words. – N.Y. Sun, Nov. 21, 1899 – Corrected.
To this letter, several replies appeared in the Sun, but not a single answer. For in only three ways can it be refuted.
(a) By showing that the facts are not as here given.
(b) By showing that it is possible for 8 men to write each after the other 7; for 27 books, for some 500 pages to be each in its turn written last. (c) By showing that even if the facts be true, the arithmetic faultless, and the collocation of the numerics honest, it does not follow that mere men could not have written this without Inspiration from above.
Accordingly, as many as nine noted rationalists (of whom Drs. Lyman Abbot and Charles W. Eliot are still living) [now in 1927 also gone to where they may know] were respectfully but publicly invited to refute the writer. One was not “interested” in the writer’s “arithmetical” doings; two “regretted” that they “had no time” to give heed thereto. Another “did not mean to be unkind,” but … The rest were silent.
For the special benefit of these, the writer printed the original data with numerous details, enabling them in the easiest manner to verify every statement made by him if they wished. And to the best of his ability, he has for years seen to it that no scholar whom surely these things especially concern remain in ignorance of the facts here recounted and of like cogency.
A notable exception to the above is a lawyer of standing [now also dead], whose books on Law are deemed as of authority. He had intelligence enough and candor withal to confess that the case for the Bible as made out by the writer is impregnable, that the Bible is thus proved to be an “absolutely unique book.”
This much the case itself exhorts from the but too well-equipped writer on – EVIDENCE; and accordingly, he henceforth reads the writer’s Numerics with intense appreciation. And then, fresh from this confession, he betakes himself once more to the circulation of his anti-Christian books in the writing of which he joys to spend his leisure hours.
In the second letter to the N. Y. Sun the author, in discussing some irrelevant “answers” to his first letter, recited the three ways of refuting him and then continued:
No sane man will try to refute me by the second method. To refute me by the first method I herewith respectfully invite any or all of the following to prove that my facts are not facts: namely Messrs: Lyman Abbott, Washington Gladden, Heber Newton, Minot J. Savage, Presidents Eliot of Harvard, White of Cornell, Professors J. Henry Thayer of Harvard, and Dr. Briggs, and any other prominent higher critic so called. They may associate with themselves, if they choose, all the contributors of the ninth edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica who wrote its articles on Biblical subjects together with a dozen mathematicians of the caliber of Professor Simon Newcomb. The heavier the calibre of either scholar or mathematician, the more satisfactory to me.
They will find that my facts are facts. And since they are facts, I am ready to take them to any three prominent lawyers, or, better still, to any judge of a superior or supreme court, and abide by his decision as to whether the conclusion is not necessary that Inspiration alone can account for the facts, if they are facts.
All I should ask would be that the judge treat the case as he would any other case that comes before him: declining to admit matters for discussion as irrelevant when they are irrelevant; and listening patiently to both sides, as he does in any trial.
- The Testimony of the Bible as the Word of God?
For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not one letter or one stroke of a letter will disappear from the Law until everything has been accomplished (Mat 5:18). This is the Bible’s testimony given by Jesus himself. The Bible is the Word of God,
There were errors in translation of its Greek version and Panin corrected them using his method. Panin was accused of having translated the New Testament to his liking. This was not the question; Panin had to try to find the right Greek version that would implement God’s numeric code which goes through the entire New Testament in the Greek language. After having finished the Greek New Testament, Panin translated it in English. Ivan Panin has, according to his mathematical method, checked the entire New Testament and published it in English. The work is called Numeric English New Testament. There is no code in the English translation, only in the Greek (and Hebrew Old Testament). Its translation is based mainly on the American Standard Version (1901).
If you had in your hand the scripture written in the original language, Hebrew or Greek, you could, like Panin, see it as mere numbers. Each Hebrew and Greek language letter has a corresponding numeric value. So Panin in a way turned the text into numbers and started looking into the code that they exposed. He found that the sum of the letters of each sentence or paragraph was divisible by seven. Every Bible book, every chapter and every verse exposed this very code. And if it did not, there was something wrong in one or several words used.
Many may wonder about such an abundance of mathematical codes in each book of the Bible. Why would God have done so? Panin answered his friend with a question: why do the banknotes have different, often invisible security features? The friend immediately realized that they were included in the banknote printing process to prevent counterfeiting. Panin stated that for the same reason God has included in every Bible verse an invisible code that can be used to ensure that the text is correct. Examining the Bible this way helps to correct translation errors, helps to determine whether certain words or even verses belong to the original Bible and do the so-called Apocrypha Books belong to the Biblical Canon or not. In my opinion, the most important proof is that with biblical numerics it can be indisputably shown that God himself has inspired all the words of the entire Bible, the Old and the New Testament. Not one letter can be changed without the code being broken. I give you a couple of examples a little later. Today, it may be possible to produce such text using computers. When writing the Bible during the 1500 years there was no such possibility. All writers should have known about the code and should have been able to produce text according to the code.
When Panin had completed his work, he was excited and believed that everyone else would be, the whole of Christendom. If he imagined that church bells would echo in the whole world and people would praise God for revealing his truth to the last letter, Panin was badly disappointed; nobody could have cared less! The result was an indifferent silence and disbelief. Even today, about one hundred years later, the most common comment is: hoo-ha!
Isaiah (6:9-10) conveyed God’s message:
He said, Go, and tell this people, ‘you hear indeed, but don’t understand; And you see indeed, but don’t perceive.’ Make the heart of this people fat; Make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn again, and be healed.
- The Bible Numerics Prove the Right Translation
Which version of the translation is correct?
1 Tim 3:16
Am. Std.: And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness; He who was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated in the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.
KJV 1789: ”And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”
This is a very meaningful verse; it is not at all inconsequential whether it is God who has appeared in the flesh, or only a man. If the correct translation is God, it would mean that Jesus is God who has appeared in the flesh. The Catholic manuscript – Vatican MS – for an understandable reason – wants to interpret this “God appeared in the flesh …” but another one – Alexandrian MS, interpreted it as “He who …” Which one is right? There is a small difference between the two texts. Panin studied the matter with Bible numerics and found that the version “He who” implements the code correctly and is the correct translation. This verse does not take a stand for or against the divinity of Jesus.
Another example:
Rom 16:7 – Junia or Junias
One of the Bible translations uses the name Junia but is uncertain giving a footnote: “According to another interpretation, the name in question is not a woman’s name, but a man’s name, Junias.” Panin removed the uncertainty in his numerics calculation. It is at the end of the Numeric English New Testament (NENT), in the annex “Paper VII”.
PAPER VII
ROMANS 16:7
(Read Junia.)
The hitherto uncertainty whether the Greek Ιουνίαν, Iounian is the accusative of Iounia, feminine, or Iounias, masculine, is now removed in favor of Junia by Numerics thus: Among the numerous persons saluted by Paul in Romans 16 are the following seven women.
102 Πρισκίλλα Priscilla
40 Μαρία Mary
67 Ιουνία Junia
101 Τρύϕαινα Tryphæna
120 Τρυϕσα Tryphosa
83 Περσίς Persis
65 Ιουλία Julia
578 or 17 x 17 x 2
The figures in the seven place values preceding the names are seventeen (Feature 1), their sum is 578, or 2 seventeens (Feature 2) of seventeens (Feature 3), of which the first name has 102, or 6 seventeens, and the other six have 476, itself 28 seventeens (Feature 4), with the sum of its figures seventeen (Feature 5). This division, moreover, is by 2 seventeens; thus:
578 is 17 x 17 x 2
102 is 17 x 2 x 3
476 is 17 x 2 x 2 x 7
The numbers with two figures have 255, or 15 seventeens; those with three have 323 or 19 seventeens (Feature 6).
The two women who are named together, Tryphæna and Tryphosa, have 221, or 13 seventeens, leaving for the others 357, or 17 x 3 x 7, or 21 seventeens (Feature 7).
The three middle names have 288, leaving for those on each side of them 290, each neighbor of 289.
288 is (17 x 17)-1 or 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 3 x 3
290 is (17 x 17)+1 or 2 x 5 x 29
so that this division is the nearest possible unequal division into two halves, each of seventeen (Feature 8) seventeens (Feature 9).
This enumeration of the Numerics of the seven women (whose sole bond is that they are named by Paul to be greeted among many others) is in nowise exhaustive; but these suffice for the present purpose. The chance for these Numerics to be a mere coincidence here, undesigned, is (with due allowance for the neighborhood feature which has not as good a chance as the direct features of 17) one in 17 x 17 x 17 x 17 x 17 x 17 x 17 x 17 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 or 446,000,000,000 or 446 billions.
An elaborate design of seventeens thus runs through the seven names possible only with JUNIA and is DESTROYED with its omission from the list.
It may be that this very question about Junia is not of great importance to the whole of the Bible. What is remarkable is that Panin has developed a method that helps to ensure the correctness of the Bible text and to ensure that the wrangle between scribes will stop. Using the NENT translation, we get so close to the original Greek text of the Bible as it is possible. For Greek-speaking bible students there is the equivalent Bible text as the original version. Some hold such a statement as prominent and inappropriate. However, all things considered, the Panin’s Greek Bible fulfills the requirements of numerics. Of course, the English translation (NENT) aspires to be as close to the original as possible.
But but. If the word of the Bible itself is now reliable and the errors in it are corrected, there remains an important question: what is the correct INTERPRETATION of each verse? In its turn, Panin used the modern phrase structures: The sentences begin in uppercase and end to the point. Subordinate clauses are separated by commas. It is Panin who has decided when the Bible talks about god and when about God. Would it have been better to write all the letters in either uppercase or lowercase letters? Well, that would not have been very readable to modern man. When reading Panin’s NENT, it is good to keep in mind that the commas and g:s are not necessarily the same as the apostle would have meant if they had used them. These questions are very difficult and demand interpretation. I have tried to shed light on alternative translations in the chapter “Translation and interpretation issues”.