The Holy Spirit is first introduced in Genesis 1:2 and He is God…not an “it.” The Holy Spirit is the Author of all Scripture; the Holy Spirit is the power and work of God in Time; the Holy Spirit is the Guarantor of covenant relationship with God by faith in Jesus as Lord (Ephesians 1:13-14); without the Holy Spirit, there would be no salvation and mankind would be destined to death in Hell.
It is the Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11) and it is the Holy Spirit who becomes our best Friend when we trust in Jesus Christ as Lord as the Spirit takes-up residence within us and teaches us, guides us, leads us, comforts us, in God’s will for our life through the life-long process of sanctification (1 John 2:27; Galatians 5:16; John 16:13).
When all of the World might abandoned you and you have no one on your side it is the Holy Spirit who is there within you and will never leave you alone or forsake you (Proverbs 18:24). The Holy Spirit intercedes for you during prayer and takes your needs to the Father even when you’re unaware of that need (Romans 8:26).
It is the Holy Spirit that enlivens the mind and spirit of man to understand our need for God in Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 2:14) and it is the Holy Spirit that makes life tolerable through internal joy and peace as we exist in a fallen World, the majority of which is headed to death in Hell through compromise with the Devil via the rejection of Jesus Christ as Lord (Matthew 7:13-14).
Concerning God’s Sovereignty – Predestination – Free will – Love
Free will is absolutely essential for love to manifest in an environment of purity and authenticity. God is defined as perfect LOVE (1 John 4:7-21) and consequently He desires love – relationship (with intimacy) from both His angelic and human creation; therefore, mankind, having been created in God’s spiritual image (Genesis 1:26-28), is endowed by God with the communicable attribute of love, both in verb and noun form.
True love cannot be predestined, coerced nor can true love exist in an environment of fear; therefore, God desires a pure love from His created beings and God entered the Realm of Time, constrained by flesh and physics (John 1; Hebrews 1; Colossians 1; Philippians 2), and gave Himself via selfless-love at Golgotha to demonstrate His personal love for His created beings and desires that we reciprocate by giving ourselves, mind-body-spirit, to Him by trusting in Him as our Lord, God, Savior, Mediator; this, made possible by faith – trusting in Jesus Christ as our Lord who died for us (Matthew 22:37; John 3:16-17).
Those who suggest my Lord predestines some to life and some to death in Hell are void the Holy Spirit’s wisdom and these do not know the Living God and His eschatological plan for Time and Eternity and causation for the creation narrative that is founded upon the Gospel of Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 1:9-10); furthermore, God desires that all men and women come to a knowledge of the Truth and find life in Jesus Christ as their Lord for the mediation of sin (1 Timothy 2:4); furthermore, God does NOT desire that any perish in the “second death” in Hell but God gave Himself for us in Jesus Christ that we can live in Him, forever, by trusting in Jesus as our Lord who died for us (2 Peter 3:9; Ephesians 5:2).
The Cross of Jesus Christ – its relevance to the Christian and Christianity…
The Cross is Elohim’s tool of victory over the Devil…we don’t glorify implements of war but they are respected for what they are and what they accomplish when implemented with righteous hands and motives. The Cross is the tool used by the Father to redeem you from your sin and neutralize the Devil’s power through deception e.g. death, Hell, the grave, and give you victory through selfless love demonstrated by Jesus at Golgotha.
The Cross is a war implement of remembrance concerning what God has done for those who will trust in Jesus as their Lord. I believe the Cross will be on display in the New Jerusalem as a visual bulwark guiding free will and constraining future rebellion in the Kingdom. Christian’s don’t worship the Cross, we worship the One who hung there and died for our redemption from sin and the “second death” in Hell.
If people would listen…God is pleading with them for their love in a healthy and loving relationship with Him where their heart is His and His peace through the Holy Spirit is theirs and goodness and joy flows through those who love Him in the Son, Jesus Christ, who made relationship with the Father possible through reconciliation at the Cross (John 3). Elohim is in the process of righting a wrong that manifest in His Kingdom before Time began and Elohim has ordained the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the battle strategy, the methodology, by which He has defeated the works of the Devil (2 Timothy 1:9-10; 1 John 3:8b). Elohim chose human flesh, bone, blood, through which He would restore peace to His Kingdom through selfless love yet mankind steadfastly insists that his own self-righteousness has a relevant role to play in God’s eschatological plan.
Why must man insist that knowing God is riddled with rules, regulations, customs, traditions, religions, strife, heritage…when knowing God is knowing peace through simple faith and trust in what God has done for us as He first loved us and gave Himself for us so that we could be His children, forever? Concerning Elohim, it’s all about RELATIONSHIP through faith and love…not LAW, not self-righteousness, not work and striving after that which is not attainable through human effort.
Elohim is victorious through the faithfulness of those who love Him and trust in Him in Jesus Christ our Lord, God, Creator, Warrior. We are victors with our God when we come along side Him and love Him, trust Him, honor Him with faith and obedience to His Holy Spirit who guides the faithful in sanctification as the Spirit prepares the faithful for eternal service in the New Jerusalem.
The Law Covenant – Israel’s deadly error – Elohim’s displeasure – the KEY to Elohim’s heart…
The “moral law” that governs behavior, thoughts, attitudes, of the created concerning our Creator has been extant from the creation of the angels as that moral law is an arbiter of free will by necessity. God’s moral law is infused within every human creation at conception and is governed by the conscience (Romans 2:14-15).
Our Creator, Elohim, has ordained that those created beings created in His spiritual image possessing certain communicable attributes particular to God Himself possess free will in order that love and relationship with our Creator can manifest with purity and authenticity. True love cannot be predestined, coerced, mandated, manipulated…true love must be a matter of the heart with volition and purity under girded by trust.
The moral law that governs the behavior of the angelic creation and the human creation is rooted in God’s holiness and purity and the moral law acts as a bulwark against unrestrained narcissism thereby preventing societal implosion and that same moral law, governed by the conscience (Romans 2:14-15), is, by necessity, the vehicle by which God’s justice through due process will manifest at the Great Judgment of the Condemned (Rev 20:11-15).
Concerning Israel’s error and arrogance,
Israel’s children dedicate themselves to a false sense of security in their Law Covenant believing that what they worship and serve through self-righteousness is KEY to God’s heart and that the Law of Works they worship in place of faith is unique and given them specifically – this is the Jewish error and causation concerning why an overwhelming number of Israel’s children will perish in Hell in the “second death” (Isaiah 10:22; Romans 9:27; Luke 13:28).
The Moral Law and the Decalogue/Commandments…
Nine of the Ten Commandments are moral laws, they are NOTHING new or novel but simply a reiteration of the moral law extant from the creation of the angels yet the Decalogue does articulate with specificity certain sins especially abhorrent to Elohim and attention to same was necessary as the laws codified in stone were essential in separating Israel from the paganism that surrounded them as God would use Israel’s children for His eschatological purposes through whom Elohim would enter Time and physics through flesh and bone and blood to destroy the works of His nemesis via selfless love (John 1; Hebrews 1; Colossians 1; Philippians 2; 1 John 3:8b; Genesis 3:15-21).
Law v. Faith (what pleases Elohim?)
The moral law judged Satan (John 16:11), the fallen angels; that same moral law of conscience judged the Adamic and Noahic generations of defilement, sins that grieved the heart of Elohim (Genesis 6) and ultimately judged these generations by water where all perished save eight, yet Israel’s children consider their Law unique and have placed their Law and a facade of obedience to same as an eternal priority when the Law is NOT key to Elohim’s heart but Elohim is pleased with “faith” by the one who believes Him and trusts in Him fully (Hebrews 11:6).
Law does not please Elohim; Faith pleases Elohim as that FAITH engenders behaviors that please Elohim because those behaviors manifest from love not enslavement to letters because love saves the soul and letters condemn the soul to death (2 Corinthians 3:6). Israel’s children, those involved in religions, cults, sects, are dying in sin en mass in arrogance and self-righteousness.
My Lord has put me here to express His disdain for Israel’s self-righteousness and maddening arrogance as they have become servants of Elohim’s virulent enemy, Satan (Romans 10:1-4). The KEY to Elohim’s heart is to believe with faith in the One He has sent into the World to provide blood atonement for your sin, Jesus Christ our Lord (John 6:29). This pleases Elohim.
Sin is a violation of God’s moral law which has been extant from the creation of the angels as an arbiter of free will. You think you have righteousness with God through the Law Covenant when in reality the Law Covenant, the Decalogue, is nothing new or novel but simply a reiteration of the moral law extant from eternity past (Romans 2:14-15) with some specificity (sins especially abhorrent to God) for Israel as they were set-apart for God’s eschatological purposes while surrounded by pagan tribes serving pagan gods.
The Law has already condemned you to death in your sin and this void atonement. The Law mandates absolute perfection (James 2:10) but you’re a sinner condemned by the Law (Romans 3:20-23) and you live under a curse (Galatians 3:10) because you seek righteousness through that which only provides condemnation by defining your sin void atonement. Only Yeshua provides necessary “righteousness” as He earned that righteousness for you through His sinless perfection and making blood atonement for your sin at Golgotha and only by trusting-believing in Yeshua as your Messiah who died for you will you receive the righteousness of Yeshua imputed into your life and receive the benefits of forgiveness of sin and a right standing with the Father i.e. eternal life (John 3; Matthew 26:28; 2 Corinthians 5:21).
Clarifying James’ admonition: Faith without works is dead… (James 2:26)
My point is this…it matters NOT how you work, strive, endeavor, to please God the Father through your human efforts UNTIL you have FIRST established covenant relationship with Him by complying with HIS WILL (John 6:29); that is, “believing in the One He has sent” into the World to make atonement for your sin.
Until such time you have FIRST established covenant relationship with the Father by grace (unmerited favor – a gift you cannot earn through human effort) through faith (trusting-believing) in Jesus Christ as your Lord, your works of goodness and righteousness are of NO ACCOUNT as they’re equated to a putrid, bloody, cloth in God’s nose (Isaiah 64:6 – menstrual cloth in Hebrew).
The confusion lies in cults, religions, sects, Hebrew Roots fanaticism, Sabbatarianism, Judaism, Islam, Catholicism, believing that our behavior, our self-righteousness, pleases God and that we can earn His forgiveness by what we do…this is a lie of Satan and the Jewish error that culminates in the death of mind, body, soul, in Hell.
Jesus warned,
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Matthew 7
What is the will of God for your life?
Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” John 6:29
Your works of righteousness will NOT be relevant concerning your eternal destiny, forgiveness of sin, until you have first surrendered your will for God’s will in Jesus Christ through faith in Jesus as Lord and having received the indwelling Holy Spirit as the Guarantor of that covenant relationship (Ephesians 1:13-14); then…and only then…do your works of righteousness performed IN and BY the indwelling Holy Spirit honor God the Father as these good works serve to validate the authenticity of your faith in Jesus as your Lord, Messiah.
Jesus said,
20 So then, you will know them by their fruits. Matthew 7
Therefore, please don’t compromise the necessity of faith in Jesus FIRST with works of self-righteousness as a path to righteousness (a right standing) with the Father as only the righteousness of Jesus imputed into your life by faith in Jesus as your Lord is acceptable to the Father concerning your eternal destiny and relationship with Him, forever (2 Corinthians 5:21). Grace-Faith-FIRST – then – works of righteousness, obedience, will naturally follow as the Holy Spirit walks you daily in sanctification in accordance with God’s will for your life in preparation for service in the New Jerusalem.
How do we establish or uphold the Law through our faith in Jesus Christ?
“Do we then nullify the Law through faith? Far from it! On the contrary, we establish the Law.” Romans 3:31 (NASB)
The Law is “established” through faith as faith reveals the futility of attempting to keep the Law in order to attain righteousness (a right standing) with God through its observance as we’re all sinners (Romans 3:23) and the Law mandates absolute perfection (James 2:10) if one is to attain righteousness through keeping it; therefore, the one who seeks relationship with God through law-keeping is cursed (Galatians 3:10) and only by faith in Jesus and the righteousness He earned for us at Golgotha by keeping the Law in perfection for us can we receive the imputation of Jesus’ righteousness into and over our life and be declared “not guilty” by the Father and receive the indwelling Holy Spirit as Guarantor of that covenant relationship, forever (2 Corinthians 5:21: Ephesians 1:13-14; John 3).
The Law only defines our sin, our culpability before God, but the Law provides no atonement (Romans 3:20) as the Law establishes our need for an Intercessor and Redeemer by faith (Galatians 2:16).
Why don’t Christians care about Yahweh’s holy anointed days as per Leviticus 23?
It’s not that Christians “don’t care”…but that these ceremonial laws were an edict given the Hebrew Tribes concerning a special dispensation targeting Israel, alone, (those under the Covenant of Law) as Israel was set-apart for God’s eschatological purposes through whom He would introduce His Messiah to the World.
When Messiah entered the Realm of Time, those ceremonial, civil, laws were fulfilled in Jesus as they only “foreshadowed” the reality of Him who was to come (Colossians 2:16). Why would you expect a Christian, who serves the Fulfillment of what the Law foreshadowed, to honor that which is past when the Fulfillment of same has come and His Spirit lives within our heart? Why serve an image when the Reality lives within us? We see those edicts, we understand their importance and relevance but they have ZERO relevance for our lives in the New Covenant as the tangible fulfillment and the reality of what those traditions foreshadowed has come i.e. Jesus Christ as Lord.
As a Christian, I’m free to honor the feast days and the Sabbath if I so choose understanding their intent but I don’t obsess over days, laws, feasts, because I possess the Holy Spirit and Jesus is my Lord…those things of the past are irrelevant to my daily walk with my Lord as the New has come and I have peace with God through faith in Jesus who is the fulfillment of all the Torah, the prophets, proclaimed and pictured (Romans 5:1).
It is written concerning this matter,
3 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some, letters of commendation to you or from you? 2 You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all people, 3 revealing yourselves, that you are a letter of Christ, [a]delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of [b]human hearts.
4 Such is the confidence we have toward God through Christ. 5 Not that we are adequate in ourselves so as to consider anything as having come from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, 6 who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 7 But if the ministry of death, engraved in letters on stones, came [c]with glory so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory? 9 For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness excel in glory. 10 For indeed what had glory in this case has no glory, because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if that which fades away was [d]with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.
12 Therefore, having such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech, 13 and we are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not stare at the end of what was fading away. 14 But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil [e]remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. 15 But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts; 16 but whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 But we all, with unveiled faces, looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3 (NASB)
The Confusion that Damns the Soul to Hell; Works v Faith to establish covenant relationship with God the Father…
Belief (faith-trust) and “obedience” (good works – self righteousness) are two-separate entities concerning one’s righteousness (a right standing) with God the Father relevant to the forgiveness of sin and eternal life in the New Covenant.
Prior to establishing covenant relationship with the Father by faith, alone, in Jesus, alone, your works of “obedience,” on your very best day, are equated to a filthy garment e.g. a bloody menstrual cloth in God’s nose (Isaiah 64:6; Ephesians 2:8-9).
It’s not until such time you have established covenant relationship with the Father by faith/belief – alone – in Jesus – alone – (John 3) and subsequently having received the indwelling Holy Spirit as your Guarantor of that covenant relationship (Ephesians 1:13-14) that your “works of obedience” to the Holy Spirit through sanctification actually honor the Father and these good works then validate the authenticity of your faith as a “new creation” in Jesus (Galatians 5:16; 2 Corinthians 5:17).
You can work your fingers to the bone in good works of obedience as a “natural” man (1 Corinthians 2:14), but until such time you have FIRST established covenant relationship with the Father by faith in Jesus, you’re kicking against the goads and your service is of no account because you’re NOT God’s child…you are a foreigner and alienated to the promises of God that are ONLY realized by faith in Jesus as your Lord believing that Jesus died for you as this is the Father’s will for your life (John 6:29).
Jesus said that those who love HIM will keep HIS Commandments (John 14:15) – note that it is the one who “loves” Jesus having placed their faith in Him as Lord that possesses the anointing, the power and will to seek obedience to those commands as they’re in covenant relationship with the Father by faith and they are indeed a “new creation” through the work of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 5:17; John 14:16; Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 1:13-14).
A warning to the self-righteous,
If you seek relationship with God the Father through your own efforts void faith in the One, Jesus Christ, who did the work for you at Golgotha, you will die in your sin and perish in the “second death” in Perdition (John 8:24; John 14:6; Ephesians 2:8-9; Galatians 2:16; Romans 3:20).
"RickeyD" Holtsclaw 