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Any thing that takes away even the tiniest bit of credit from HIM is a lie. OF OURSELVES WE CAN DO NOTHING.
Any thing that WE think we are doing for our own salvation is filthy rags. HE did it all, and one day we will ALL see that.Well said, #####!
I've been scratchin my head lately over a passage in John 3:JESUS SAID
"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up"And it's finally starting to make sense to me.
Well, part of it, anyway...What is the serpent?
A liar.
(No, not the physical serpents that were biting people
in the wilderness, of course. This is a SIMILE.)
And when the serpent is lifted up for all to see, he is exposed for what he is and all who look upon it are set free from the lie.What is Jesus?
The TRUTH.
And when Jesus is lifted up for all to see, He is exposed for what he is
and all who look upon Him are set free by the truth.So of course I gets to thinkin about serpents and I goes back to that fateful conversation in Eden.
Here is the first, the Original Lie:"the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."The original lie, and the father (as it were) of all lies is twofold:
1- (implied) You are NOT like God
2- (explicit) You must DO something to become like God.The fact is, they were like God ALREADY!
Made in His image,
Called "the son of God",
deathless, having dominion over all the earth,
walking and talking with God...I mean, how much more do ya want?
This is the basis of all "religion", isn't it?
That we must DO something to be like God
or to be acceptable to God, because we are NOT Godlike
or acceptable to God?Look again at the story of Cain and Abel:
This is a great example of the scribes
handling the scriptures deceiptfully.
In the KJV and it's follow-ups, we read that
God disrespected or looked with disfavour upon Cain's offering,
and that when Cain got huffy, God said
"Hey, if you do what is right, you'll be accepted
but if you do bad stuff, sin will be your master."
(I'm not trying to quote directly.
You can read it in the first 16 verses of Genesis 4.
I'm telling it like we have been taught it, okay?)Well, I got to lookin at THAT the other evening,
and I spotted a lie, big as you please.
We are NOT accepted by God because of anything we DO!
So why would God say this to Cain?Also, we know that offerings of the "fruit of the land"
were acceptable to God, because they were provided for
under the Levitical Laws.Now, I need Laird or some real astute scholar-type
to help me out here, because Hebrew is NOT my thang!
But by using Young's Literal Translation
and a couple of concordances
I pieced together something like this:Cain and Abel both brought offerings to YHWH.
God looked at Abel's offering,
and He did not look at Cain's offering.
There is no whiff whatsoever
of God being DISpleased by Cain's offering.
None.
He just didn't look at it at all.
(And I think we can see that Abba did this
to elicit the reaction from Cain,
to expose what was in Cain's heart)When Cain was miffed by this,
God's response was something like this:
"Why are you angry?
If you are happy with yourself, rejoice!
If you are NOT happy with yourself,
the SIN OFFERING is waiting to master you."
(Kinda like 1John 3:21)Do you see this?
It is not SIN that masters us,
but the sin OFFERING!
Guilt!
Condemnation!
The need to DO something to be acceptable to God!This is the same lie that took in Cain's Mamma!
And it's the same lie that Satan used to tempt Jesus
when he said "IF you bow down and worship me
all these kingdoms will be yours."That 2-part lie:
1- you are not now like God
2- you must DO something to be like God.When all the while, the kingdoms already were His.
This is the same lie that the early church faced
when teachers taught that we must believe on Jesus
AND obey the Law!The same lie we face today when we think that
"Jesus paid it all", but we must WORK to become mature
or spiritual or pleasing to Abba or ....I wanna lift up Jesus so that all may see Him,
recognise Him for what He is,
and be set free by His truth.And I wanna lift up this lie so that all may see it,
recognise it for what it is,
and be set free from its life-killing condemnation.Beloved, we have been sought, purchased,
given life, and set free!
WHEN JESUS HAD DONE ALL THAT WAS NECESSARY,
He SAT DOWN at Abba's right hand!We don't have to DO anything to be acepted!
We ARE born of the will of God.
We ARE His beloved children.Rejoice!
\0/ \@/ \O/
I love you!
PD - Adullam's Cave