Experience: (1) Jesus is LORD, Messiah
(2) Husband of a beautiful wife (40-years); Father of three-beautiful children.
(3) United States Marine Corps 1/1 - 0311 - NCO
(4) Retired 31-year veteran of the Houston Police Department (Patrol-Motorcycle Officer-Commercial Helicopter Police Patrol Pilot)
(5) Education: Master's Degree/University of Houston at Clear Lake
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Jews seek a sign; Gentiles seek wisdom. Why can’t these come to a knowledge of the Truth in Jesus Christ?
Until such time one humbles them self before God the Father, repents of sin, sincerely trusts in Jesus as Lord and receives the Holy Spirit as their Tutor, Knowledge and Wisdom, they remain foreigners of God and His promises and the deeper truths of Scripture never penetrate the hardened heart of unbelief; this eternal truism is relevant for Jew, Israelite, Gentile. The “natural man” cannot please God as the Father can only be approached and communed with through the Son and the Spirit (John 14:6; Ephesians 1:13-14).
It is written,
“21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
If Jesus effectively destroyed the works of the Devil (1 John 3:8b) why does death remain?
Death remains because of the curse (Romans 5:12; Ezekiel 18:20) and God’s faithfulness to His word; death of the body will manifest for disobedience as God warned in The Beginning but God’s objective does NOT focus upon the flesh but on the spirit of man created in His image (Genesis 1:26-28).
We ARE spiritual beings encapsulated within a decaying body of flesh; this body of flesh is only a temporary “tent” for God’s purposes (2 Corinthians 5:1) in a World constrained by Time and physics and that tent will be torn down by death but the spirit remains…again…this existence within the Realm of Time and physics is simply an object lesson and we’re players in the midst of an unfathomable cosmic struggle that is rooted in the spiritual NOT the carnal.
The horror of sin continues as the object lesson continues and soon the peace of the Millennial Kingdom will display the final, stark, differentiation between God’s sovereign will and peace that reigns through obedience v. horror that reigns in disobedience. In the Kingdom, a thousand years is as is a day…God is NOT slow concerning His promises (2 Peter 3:8-9) and the faithful in Jesus WILL endure to the end (Matthew 24:13; Jude 1:24).
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
The Son of God entered Time specifically “to destroy the works of the Devil” (1 John 3:8b). Was He successful?
Yes. Messiah Jesus effectively destroyed death, Hell, the grave, at Golgotha by selfless love for those who believe in Him as Lord by covenant promise and the Devil is now being used in these last days by God to separate wheat from chaff; sheep from goats; the faithful from the unfaithful; this, as this entire debacle in Time is an object lesson for the faithful angelic creation that remain in the Kingdom in servitude to God that faithfulness, loyalty, obedience, are essential for peace and harmony to exist among the brethren and the object lesson of horror upon the Earth over the previous 6000-years will be an effective deterrent, a bulwark, against future rebellion as free will remains extant by necessity.
Why did Elohim destroy all but eight by water and subsequently focus primarily upon Noah and Shem?
The focus of Scripture, its purpose, is to reveal Elohim’s eschatological plan, His battle strategy, to restore peace and order to His Kingdom that was disrupted before Time by a rebellion initiated by God’s anointed cherub angel we know as the Devil, Lucifer-Satan-the Evil One-Serpent. From the Genesis (Genesis 3:15;21) to the Revelation, Elohim’s focus has been upon His battle strategy, the Gospel ordained before Time began (2 Timothy 1:9-10), through which He would “destroy the works of the Devil” (1 John 3:8b); unfortunately, the Adamic/Noahic generations became so defiled (Genesis 6) that it was not possible for Elohim to set-apart a people group after His own Name through whom He would introduce His Warrior, His Messiah, into the Realm of Time; therefore, Elohim destroyed all of mankind save eight and focused upon Noah and Shem and Arphaxad through whom came Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the Twelve Tribes of Israel through whom Judah was to be the deliverer of Messiah in Time.
Why does Jesus deny knowing the “Day and hour” (Matthew 24:36) and does this suggest Jesus is not Deity?
Jesus is God-Elohim-Yahweh-I AM and He and the Spirit, in accordance with order and example and perhaps federal headship, agree to a delineation of authority in the Godhead much like God mandates appropriate order within the Biblical family unit but the Father, Son and Spirit are coequal in all divine attributes. Jesus entered Time as God in Flesh i.e. Emmanuel (Matthew 1:23; John 1; Hebrews 1; Colossians 1; Philippians 2) to accomplish the Father’s divine will for eschatological purposes concerning the restoration of order in the Kingdom subsequent to the rebellion (John 6:38). Jesus made Himself a servant (Philippians 2) who entered Time “to destroy the works of the Devil” for your benefit (1 John 3:8b) and no “man” or “angel” could accomplish the unfathomable feat of creation, redemption, restoration, but God Himself (Isaiah 55:8).
Concerning the coming Day of our Lord’s 2nd-Advent…why did Jesus suggest that He did not know the Day or hour but deferred the “day and hour” (Matthew 24:36) to the Father only yet Jesus and the Father are ONE (John 10:30) and “all things” have been given over into the hands of Jesus by the Father (John 3:35)? Jesus proclaimed that “no man or no angel” knows that “Day and hour” as that Day is fluid; that is, God allows free will to play-out in Time and Eternity by necessity and that “Day and hour” will NOT manifest until the fullness of the Gentiles, those who will come to faith in Jesus Christ as Lord, has manifest and come to fruition (Romans 11:25).
The Father, as Administrator, is in complete control over the number of redeemed who will enter the Kingdom and the Father is in complete control over the hour and the Day and Jesus tells you this though apostates and servants of the Devil falsely interpret it to deny the deity of Jesus but it is that knowledge of Jesus’ deity which is a KEY indicator that one is “born again” by the indwelling Holy Spirit as the knowledge of Messiah’s deity, the absolute necessity for same, separates the redeemed in Jesus from every cult, sect, religion, in the World. No one but God Himself could create, redeem, sustain, life within the Realm of Time as Jesus Christ is our Creator-Elohim, our Redeemer-Messiah, our Sustainer – for Eternity (Hebrews 1)…why does the World deny this? The World’s loyalty is to the Devil who blinds the mind of the unbelieving (2 Corinthians 4:4).
“Works of Righteousness” v. “Faith in Jesus” concerning salvation from death in Hell…
Obedience to God concerning salvation from death in Hell is NOT accounted as validating faith or justification until such time one has FIRST initiated covenant relationship with the Father by faith in Jesus as Lord and received the Holy Spirit as Guarantor of that covenant (Ephesians 1:13-14); this, because your works of obedience on your best day are filthy rags (a bloody menstrual cloth – Hebrew) in the nose of God (Isaiah 64:6) because you’re a sinner by nature (Romans 3:23; Romans 5:12) alienated from God by that sin; therefore, my point concerning the Law of the Covenant and the Law of Conscience (Romans 2:14-15) is this…chasing after rules and regulations and days and festivals and traditions is eternally FUTILE because God is NOT pleased with these things until such time you have become His child by faith in the Son, Jesus Christ and the chasm of sin separating you from God has been nullified by the atoning blood of Jesus (Ephesians 2:13).
God wants your HEART – YOUR LOVE not your Law…God, more than anything else, desires eternal intimacy with YOU and when you establish that intimacy with God by believing in the One He has sent into the World to die for you to reunite you and God in a relationship of peace (John 6:29; Romans 5:1); then, and only then, do your works of obedience to the indwelling Holy Spirit honor God and validate and authenticate your faith in Jesus as TRUE as “you will know them by their fruit” (Matthew 7:15-20).
Christians don’t “work” to be saved…they seek obedience to God because they ARE saved and LOVE God and desire intimacy with Him, forever, and works of obedience come naturally to God’s children but these works are not possible with purity until the Holy Spirit takes-up residence with in us and begins a good work in us through the NEW BIRTH (John 3; Galatians 5:16).
Who is God the Father; God the Son; God the Holy Spirit?
The Father is Administrator; The Son, Jesus Christ, is our Warrior; the Holy Spirit is Logistics and these three are One-God revealed in three-distinct personalities-persons within the Realm of Time for the purpose of “destroying the works of the Devil” (1 John 3:8b) and restoring order and peace in the Kingdom of God through self-less love demonstrated at Golgotha.
God introduces Himself as Elohim in Genesis 1:1…a plural noun/singular verb. The Holy Spirit introduces Himself first in Genesis 1:2. The Trinity is seen collaborating/creating the complex human genome in their spiritual image in Genesis 1:26-28 as “Us” and “Our.” The Son, Jesus Christ, is introduced in Genesis 3:15 as entering Time through the virgin womb (seed of the woman) to circumvent Adam’s sin-nature (Romans 5:12) and defeating Satan by crushing the head of the serpent. The “battle strategy” to be used by Jesus Christ to win victory over the Devil, the Gospel, is first pictured in Genesis 3:21 as Elohim sheds innocent blood to attain a “robe of imputed righteousness” (animal skins) to clothe Adam and Eve from their shame of sin (2 Corinthians 5:21) while Elohim rejects the self-righteousness of Adam to cover his own sin by the “works” of his hands (fig leaves) (Ephesians 2:8-9). This prophetic act of redemption by Elohim was fulfilled by Messiah Jesus at Golgotha 4000-years later with the words “It is finished!” (Matthew 26:28; John 19:30).
The “true Christian” obeys the Holy Spirit within them through the daily process of sanctification (Ephesians 1:13-14; Galatians 5:16) and understands that the Decalogue (The Ten Commandments) was given specifically to Israel’s children under a Covenant that does NOT carry-over into the New Covenant (Romans 6:14); the true Christian understands that the Moral Law of God, extant from the creation of the angels as an arbiter of free will, is summed-up in loving God with your whole heart and loving your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:36-40). The Christian does not live life worrying and fretting about laws or rules or days or regulations, but the Christian lives in grace and forgiveness and peace with God through faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1).
Islam is a demonically rooted religious cult born of adultery, unfaithfulness, between Abraham and Hagar which produced the “wild donkey” of a man named Ishmael; Ishmael is NOT the son of promise as only Isaac born through Sarah via Abraham would be the seed (Jacob-Israel) through whom God would set-apart a people group for His eschatological purposes in Time and Eternity…”a blessing to every family of the Earth” (Genesis 12:3).Ishmael is the progenitor of the Ishmaelites (Midianites) who became a virulent enemy of Israel. The Ishmaelites are the progenitors of a 7th-Century demon possessed pedophile, thief, murderer, named Muhammad who is the father of Islam and ultimately the Islamic Caliphate (a murdering hoard of demonically led warriors) who fulfilled the prophecy concerning Ishmael’s descendants who would be enemies of every family of the Earth.
Islam’s Allah is Satan masquerading as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14) via the Arabic moon god; in this, Satan is currently receiving the praise, worship, adoration, via Islam denied him during his coup d’é·tat in the Kingdom of God, a rebellion of cosmic proportions which necessitated extrication from the Kingdom (Luke 10:18; Ezekiel 28:11-19) and the creation of Time, this Universe, as a repository, ground zero, where our God, Jesus Christ our Warrior, has ultimately defeated the Evil One through self-less love at Golgotha i.e. the Gospel ordained “before Time began” (2 Timothy 1:9-10; 1 John 3:8b). For the previous 6000-years this war between the god of Islam and Elohim, Jesus Christ (1 John 3:8b), has waged among and within mankind partially constrained by Time and physics; soon, Jesus Christ will restrain the Evil One, Allah, during His Millennial Reign resulting in 1000-years of perfect peace; subsequently, Jesus will confine Allah and his demonic hoard in the Pit of Hell, forever (Revelation 20:10), and Allah will deceive and murder no more.
Subsequent the Judgment of the Condemned (Rev 20:11-15), Jesus Christ will purify the Earth of Allah’s defilement by fire (2 Peter 3:7-10) and in its place provide a New Earth and a New Heaven where the faithful in Jesus Christ will reign with Him in resurrected bodies (Philippians 3:21) within the New Jerusalem, forever (Revelation 20-22). In summation, the horrors of Allah on the Earth for 6000+ years will act as a bulwark against future disobedience, rebellion, in the Kingdom of God as free will remains extant by necessity.
The utter FUTILITY and blasphemy of seeking days, food, ceremonial laws, rules and regulations to honor God in self-righteousness…
If you seek to obey the Law in order to earn your own righteousness (a right standing) with God you are deceived (Romans 3:20) as on your best day your works of righteousness are equated to a filthy, bloody, menstrual cloth in God’s nose (Isaiah 64:6). The ONLY righteousness you will attain in this life as you’re encapsulated by a body of sinful flesh (Romans 3:23) is the righteousness earned for you by the faithfulness and perfection of Jesus Christ and the blood atonement He made for YOUR sin at Golgotha and by faith the righteousness of Jesus is then imputed into and over your life when you believe in Jesus as your Lord who died for you (John 3; 2 Corinthians 5:21). It is the one who believes that is saved, NOT the one who works (John 3:18).
Having believed in Jesus as Lord by faith (trusting-believing), God the Father, by covenant promise (Hebrews 8:7; Matthew 26:28), agrees to impute the perfection, righteousness, of Jesus over your life and declare you “not guilty” (2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 8:7) and adopts you into the family of God by His grace (unmerited favor unattainable by human effort) and then the Father GIFTS you with the Holy Spirit who takes-up residence within you (Ephesians 1:13-14) and teaches you God’s will for your life and walks you daily in sanctification as the Spirit prepares you for service in the New Jerusalem (Galatians 5:16; 1 John 2:27); therefore, it matters NOT what you eat, drink, or what day you choose to serve God as the ceremonial law foreshadowed Messiah’s fulfillment of same (Colossians 2:16)…what matters is that you possess the Holy Spirit by faith in Jesus Christ and you’ve initiated an eternal covenant, intimate, relationship with God the Father through the Son, Jesus Christ by faith in Jesus as YOUR Lord believing that He died for you (John 6:29).
"RickeyD" Holtsclaw 