If I had to name the top three most common and deadly forms of sin in modern society today, the sin of spiritual envy would be in that top three.
Spiritual envy is when one is jealous of and wishes harm to someone who one perceives has spiritual gifts that they "do not deserve" (but you do, supposedly, yourself). Spiritual envy is an especially grave form of sin because it violates two of the Ten Commandments at once. One is guilty of both coveting what your neighbor has, but also one is guilty of taking the Lord's name in vain, as you are appointing yourself the judge of another person's gift from God, which like grace he alone can give, which is their spirituality. Another dimension of taking the Lord God's name in vain is that you feel that you can "decide" what spiritual gifts are "appropriate," which "should" and "can" be "given."
Frankly, little surprises me, but I have been stunned by the level of spiritual envy and the resulting depth of evil, mortal sin that an astonishingly many people have fallen into today.
One of the evil fruits of spiritual envy is that a secondary tier of people are led astray by the primary sinners, as these secondary people think that, therefore, grace and spiritual gifts from God may be attained, earned, merited and apportioned through "deeds" and "works." This entire second tier of people are thus contaminated by the sins of the first tier of spiritual envy.
You see, blaspheming is not "swearing" or "cussing." The Jews accused Jesus of blasphemy and Jesus was certainly not cussing and sassing. No, blasphemy is the presumption that you, a human, controls any even smallest part of God's divinity, authority, primacy and control. The Jews flipped their lids when Jesus started to reveal who he truly was, which is not only the Messiah (which they could have handled, as they have been awaiting a Messiah), but the Savior in the form of the fully authorized designated Son of God.
Do you notice none of the religious class were ever "happy" when Jesus performed a miracle? Putting aside their doctrinal differences with Jesus, would they not have praised God when a blind man is cured, even if Jesus was the instrument? No, they really did not care if someone's suffering (to say nothing of the thousands who Jesus did cure) was eased. They only cared about 1) "where" Jesus "really" got his power from and 2) envying his power.
Spiritual envy causes an enormous mudslide of consequences and likely damnation because it is like a conveyor belt of sin, an avalanche of blasphemy. You've seen the cascading effect as I illustrate it here, but I am just getting started in laying the truth out for you of the behavior of these people. I am tackling this issue today not simply because I have suffered from persecution by those who spiritually envy me for many, many years (it was first confessed, not sorrowfully but matter of fact accusingly, openly to me in the mid-1990's by some supposed "psychics" and "astrologers" a "friend" had urged me to "meet"), but because while space in hell is vast, accommodating more than needed, I still to this day wish that people would repent and not doom themselves and others to go there. In addition to this spiritual concern, on the secular side spiritual envy has caused much day to day grief, misery, depression and destruction of the goodness of actual flesh and blood physical and emotional life in society today. So I think this is a very apt topic to finally understand, for me to nail it to the door of your bogus "beliefs," and to help all of you who are innocent out there to understand what is being done around you, to you, and to your children.
So let me summarize the "chain reaction" we have discussed already, before adding the further explanation of the next links and consequences:
1. A person or a group envies another person or group for perceived spiritual "gifts." So the first unworthy link is the sin of envy. Scripture does state (as I've blogged about before) that even the thoughts, not even necessarily followed up by deeds, are sins.
2. A person or a group covets another person or group for perceived spiritual "gifts." This is the sin of coveting and it has two branches which may take place together or separately. One is that the person or group tries to "take away" the spiritual gift of the envied party and/or the person or group now tries to create a "mechanism" (like a tech or rites) where they believe they can usurp God and become the dispenser of his gifts.
3. Covet people who target the people they envy now commit a cascade of other sins, such as theft, oppression, assault and battery, and even murder, as they "attempt" to "take control" of the envied's supposed spiritual gifts. ("Let's see how your 'spiritual gifts' protect you now" is the mentality, and then they maim, persecute, isolate and even kill the other person). (By the way, imagine how God feels about all this so far, and we're not even into the worst of it).
4. Covet people then proclaim that they have the "real" "spiritual gifts" and, more importantly, "access to them," and they then commit the grave sin of not only blasphemy but they become formalized false prophets. (They are no longer crazy Uncle Ernie who speaks in tongues but they now incorporate and take people's money and rob their souls and their access to authentic faith).
5. Covet people then scour the holy scriptures of traditional faiths, including those with faith in the one true God, seeking "justification" for their own "spiritual gift" factories. Thus they now highlight certain parts of scripture they feel justified their own sins and cover up and ignore (both willfully and by mistake) parts of scripture that condemns most clearly their false and sinful mindsets. Thus they skew even authentic preaching and ministries by providing materials that emphasize an unbalanced understanding of scripture. MUCH modern material is like that. And friends, what I will explain in my next posting on this subject, of how the Blessed Virgin Mary was one of the first victims of this scriptural skewing, omission, and profane "massaging" of the message of the scriptures. Once you see how Mary has been a victim of the covet people's agenda, you will see (with a falling heart) how your day to day life has likewise been affected by this.
It all starts with feeling envy toward another person's real or presumed "goodness." It is like the atom bomb, which starts with the fission of one atom, or the smashing of two, it starts so small and causes profound irreversible destruction.
So before I blog the next section of these thoughts, please uproot in your mind and your heart any thoughts (and certainly any deeds) of spiritual envy, no matter how small, toward anyone, no matter what you "think," because it is not only destructive but you are presuming upon God's authority and mercy. Want to mediate? Like to chant "Om?" Well, start by chanting that you will not envy anyone for anything, but most especially their "spiritual gifts."
[Hi young people! Quite a mess we have here, don't we? Thinking of you and hoping you are having a good day and weekend.]
Showing posts with label blasphemy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blasphemy. Show all posts
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Monday, September 21, 2009
Understanding God: timing of his wrath
This is going to be a short post that should hopefully provide lots of thought. I can't really believe that I have to explain this, but here goes. The motivation for this topic is the gradual uncovering of the many occult beliefs that have permeated society, culminating with so called Satanic worshippers and horror rap, etc., such as that Sam guy who is accused of murdering four people. He poses with religious icons and graves to degrade them, etc. This has shocked some people who are "in the know" enough to at least admit the widespread problem in the comment sections of news articles, etc. So I'm going to now "spell it out for you" whether God is tolerating this evil or not, and help you to understand his timing.
First of all, you must understand something right up front. No one "gets away" with evil and living lives full of sin. No one. Why? Because God's "batting average" is one hundred percent to send them to hell for all eternity when they die. It really is as simple as that.
Somehow these past two generations have decided that if God does not zorch on the spot someone who sins or "disrespects him and his" that God either doesn't exist or does not mind, or is powerless. That is so lame, stupid and wrong that it would be laughable if it wasn't so serious for the millions and millions (imagine a very big number) of evil people AND chronic sinners who now occupy hell. They all thought they "got away with it" until they died and woke up in hell, thrust there by God's avenging angels. No, they do not get to "argue their case" in front of God: they wake up in hell, forever (Luke 16).
That's why I mentioned my combination of boredom and dismay several years ago when kids made Internet vids kind of daring the Holy Spirit and God by stating their disbelief and blasphemy. They should have stated their youthful stupidity instead. The Bible and the Qur'an make perfectly clear that humans lead lives filled with their own crap and own free will, and then when they die, rather than be "free and clear" and "getting away with it," they awake in hell with no dialogue, no appeal to God, no nothing but "There you Are!"
The second point is that the Bible and the Qur'an make clear that God does indeed smite when he chooses to do so, either in temporal (while alive) punishment of some sort or in actually striking down a person or even a country. God usually does so by "raising up an enemy" against the sinners, rather than actually striking the blow out of the blue, miraculously. Why? For the mercy, duh. He, who is ALL Knowing, intervenes when certain points that only he knows are reached in his patience. You can trust that since he knows all that will ever happen, he smites when there is a maximum chance of those who observe and likewise sin to come to their senses, while at the same time doing minimum "loss of patience" intervention.
For a reminder of that read the section of Genesis, recently blogged about here, where Abram (Abraham) negotiates with God (who appears as an angel) about how few good people who might exist in Sodom and Gomorrah would be enough for God not to strike down the entire city. This will help you to understand that God knows all the "numbers" in advance, obviously, yet he allows even one human being to try to speak up for the rest and change the free will that humans exercise. So when God hardens his heart and lets someone evil or sinful fall on their own sword, or, as he will do, directly smite them, you can trust that it is because he knows the best time to do this so that 1) those around the persons will get the point and maybe, just maybe, actually repent and convert and 2) future evil that the persons he smited will either perform willfully or enable is minimized. Sometimes God pulls the plug for just that reason. Think of King Solomon, much loved by God, who lived to an old age, but could have lived a lot longer if he had not started to worship idols brought in by his many wives and concubines. God curtailed his life rather than 1) allow him to throw away all his grace and mercy and risk hell and 2) so that he not continue for more years to lead many souls of his people into idolatry.
Only God can do that, as I have repeatedly reminded and warned people. No human can "decide" in kind of "star chambers" who is "good" and who is "not" and thus who should be "contained" or "harmed" for the greater good. Nazis thought that and believe me, they obviously 1) did a lot of damage and 2) there is a lot of screaming done in German in hell. The analogy I've been using is that if people who think they "know who is good" and believe they can "defend" "people" from "evil forces," would have been the first to kill Saul (who persecuted Christians, them doing so in "self defense" you know) before the resurrected Christ converted Saul to, yes, St. Paul. It is absolutely forbidden in the Bible to have even evil and judging thoughts about another person, say nothing of taking God's place in judgment and thus gravely sinning, even to murder. Seen a lot of that recently.
Regardless if someone evil or a completely incorrigible sinner or enabler of sin seems to live out his or her life and is does "OK," believe the Bible and the Qur'an, and the testimony of Jesus himself (Luke 16) that those people, to their astonishment, wake up on their death in hell, one hundred percent. There is no debate or conversation with God, St. Peter or anyone else, for those who God will send to hell for their deeds: they wake up there without any argument or advocacy.
Finally, I really hope that kids (and adults) who are punked out and who think that hell really can't be all that bad a place and that Satan will "take care of them there," wise up and grow up. The Qur'an is helpful in letting you know that God ups the punishment in hell to the totally unbearable for all eternity, not Satan. Satan despises the people he fools and torments them even worse.
Why and how do we know that? Because the more Satan leads astray the sooner the End of Times and the full wrath of God will descend, and when the earth is destroyed Satan is stuck without his main home and now has to spend all of his time in hell. Duh! In the Bible you read how Satan roams the earth. Do you think he wants to be in hell? DUH! If he thought the people he fools (allegedly, since most people are wicked all on their own) are such awesome company and he could turn the thermostat so that it is cooler, why would he spend all his time on earth and dread being chained into hell with the losers?
If you actually read the Bible and/or the Qur'an, it is amazingly helpful.
Remember, no one "gets away" with evil or unrepentant continual sin and enabling: it is one hundred percent to hell for all eternity, regardless of the lack of obvious smiting any individual (or country) may experience up until that day of personal death.
Sleep well!
First of all, you must understand something right up front. No one "gets away" with evil and living lives full of sin. No one. Why? Because God's "batting average" is one hundred percent to send them to hell for all eternity when they die. It really is as simple as that.
Somehow these past two generations have decided that if God does not zorch on the spot someone who sins or "disrespects him and his" that God either doesn't exist or does not mind, or is powerless. That is so lame, stupid and wrong that it would be laughable if it wasn't so serious for the millions and millions (imagine a very big number) of evil people AND chronic sinners who now occupy hell. They all thought they "got away with it" until they died and woke up in hell, thrust there by God's avenging angels. No, they do not get to "argue their case" in front of God: they wake up in hell, forever (Luke 16).
That's why I mentioned my combination of boredom and dismay several years ago when kids made Internet vids kind of daring the Holy Spirit and God by stating their disbelief and blasphemy. They should have stated their youthful stupidity instead. The Bible and the Qur'an make perfectly clear that humans lead lives filled with their own crap and own free will, and then when they die, rather than be "free and clear" and "getting away with it," they awake in hell with no dialogue, no appeal to God, no nothing but "There you Are!"
The second point is that the Bible and the Qur'an make clear that God does indeed smite when he chooses to do so, either in temporal (while alive) punishment of some sort or in actually striking down a person or even a country. God usually does so by "raising up an enemy" against the sinners, rather than actually striking the blow out of the blue, miraculously. Why? For the mercy, duh. He, who is ALL Knowing, intervenes when certain points that only he knows are reached in his patience. You can trust that since he knows all that will ever happen, he smites when there is a maximum chance of those who observe and likewise sin to come to their senses, while at the same time doing minimum "loss of patience" intervention.
For a reminder of that read the section of Genesis, recently blogged about here, where Abram (Abraham) negotiates with God (who appears as an angel) about how few good people who might exist in Sodom and Gomorrah would be enough for God not to strike down the entire city. This will help you to understand that God knows all the "numbers" in advance, obviously, yet he allows even one human being to try to speak up for the rest and change the free will that humans exercise. So when God hardens his heart and lets someone evil or sinful fall on their own sword, or, as he will do, directly smite them, you can trust that it is because he knows the best time to do this so that 1) those around the persons will get the point and maybe, just maybe, actually repent and convert and 2) future evil that the persons he smited will either perform willfully or enable is minimized. Sometimes God pulls the plug for just that reason. Think of King Solomon, much loved by God, who lived to an old age, but could have lived a lot longer if he had not started to worship idols brought in by his many wives and concubines. God curtailed his life rather than 1) allow him to throw away all his grace and mercy and risk hell and 2) so that he not continue for more years to lead many souls of his people into idolatry.
Only God can do that, as I have repeatedly reminded and warned people. No human can "decide" in kind of "star chambers" who is "good" and who is "not" and thus who should be "contained" or "harmed" for the greater good. Nazis thought that and believe me, they obviously 1) did a lot of damage and 2) there is a lot of screaming done in German in hell. The analogy I've been using is that if people who think they "know who is good" and believe they can "defend" "people" from "evil forces," would have been the first to kill Saul (who persecuted Christians, them doing so in "self defense" you know) before the resurrected Christ converted Saul to, yes, St. Paul. It is absolutely forbidden in the Bible to have even evil and judging thoughts about another person, say nothing of taking God's place in judgment and thus gravely sinning, even to murder. Seen a lot of that recently.
Regardless if someone evil or a completely incorrigible sinner or enabler of sin seems to live out his or her life and is does "OK," believe the Bible and the Qur'an, and the testimony of Jesus himself (Luke 16) that those people, to their astonishment, wake up on their death in hell, one hundred percent. There is no debate or conversation with God, St. Peter or anyone else, for those who God will send to hell for their deeds: they wake up there without any argument or advocacy.
Finally, I really hope that kids (and adults) who are punked out and who think that hell really can't be all that bad a place and that Satan will "take care of them there," wise up and grow up. The Qur'an is helpful in letting you know that God ups the punishment in hell to the totally unbearable for all eternity, not Satan. Satan despises the people he fools and torments them even worse.
Why and how do we know that? Because the more Satan leads astray the sooner the End of Times and the full wrath of God will descend, and when the earth is destroyed Satan is stuck without his main home and now has to spend all of his time in hell. Duh! In the Bible you read how Satan roams the earth. Do you think he wants to be in hell? DUH! If he thought the people he fools (allegedly, since most people are wicked all on their own) are such awesome company and he could turn the thermostat so that it is cooler, why would he spend all his time on earth and dread being chained into hell with the losers?
If you actually read the Bible and/or the Qur'an, it is amazingly helpful.
Remember, no one "gets away" with evil or unrepentant continual sin and enabling: it is one hundred percent to hell for all eternity, regardless of the lack of obvious smiting any individual (or country) may experience up until that day of personal death.
Sleep well!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
How to ruin a good party
So you are a 'saved' Christian, and to your delight, *BAM*, the tribulations commence, you survive them, and the Jesus Christ arrives for the End of Times and the final judgment, riding his white horse (and with a double edged sword emitting from his mouth).
Delighted, you run up to him, thrilled you were right, and before He says anything to you, you bleat out to him:
"I knew I was right, that I'd be saved, and that the End of Times would come while I'm alive. My sister, who is reincarnated Blessed Virgin Mary, and my aunt, who is reincarnated Mary Magdeline, also agreed with me! Though actually sometimes we wondered if my brother was Mary Magdeline, since we know that in reincarnation the sexual genders often change!!"
That ruins a good party for sure. And you won't even have time to get your asbestos underwear (aka "long johns") donned before you will need them ;-)
Delighted, you run up to him, thrilled you were right, and before He says anything to you, you bleat out to him:
"I knew I was right, that I'd be saved, and that the End of Times would come while I'm alive. My sister, who is reincarnated Blessed Virgin Mary, and my aunt, who is reincarnated Mary Magdeline, also agreed with me! Though actually sometimes we wondered if my brother was Mary Magdeline, since we know that in reincarnation the sexual genders often change!!"
That ruins a good party for sure. And you won't even have time to get your asbestos underwear (aka "long johns") donned before you will need them ;-)
Friday, July 3, 2009
Discerning offense against God, Jesus, Holy Spirit
Here is something I want to point out to you about the Holy Trinity: God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit (also traditionally called the Holy Ghost). When you read the Bible, notice how you are warned not to offend God in slightly different but highly significant ways among the Three.
Much of the Bible is comprised of warnings against offending God himself centers on two main themes: denying God and disrespecting God. The Bible contains specific statements (such as the First and Second Commandment) about either denying or disrespecting God, and one can also read the historical events of what happens to those who choose to deny or disrespect God.
In the New Testament with the arrival of Jesus Christ, the Gospels and the Epistles emphasis that Jesus is not to be denied, but there is a different tone than the respect that is mandatory for God the Father. Jesus never says, for example, that he must be obeyed or believed in as a requirement of the faith, nor does he say he must be treated with respect. In fact he goes so far as to say about himself “And whosoever speaks a word against the Son of man it shall be forgiven him” (Matthew 12:32). Now you have to read that whole passage in its full context to get the entire gist of what he is saying and we will do so in the section on the Holy Spirit, since Jesus was not speaking so much about himself but rather as an introduction to speaking about the Holy Spirit. My point is that Jesus does not issue Commandments about disobedience or denying of him himself. Indeed sins against Jesus that are repented will be forgiven by God. (No such guarantee is given in the Bible about forgiveness for denying or disrespecting God himself, but one lives in hope that sincere repentance to God will result in mercy and forgiveness). So those are two differences in tones between offending God and offending Jesus, to summarize: Jesus does not command belief and obedience as God does, and Jesus promises that even the worse sin against him is capable of being forgiven by God.
Where one IS, however, warned that one cannot ignore or marginalize Jesus, nor forget that he brought to the world the face of God in human form, can be found in two general formats. The first is that people must believe that Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s scripture regarding the Messiah and Savior. One cannot deny that Jesus is the Messiah. The second format is the absolute requirement that one must have an encounter with Jesus. Many have their own interpretation of what Jesus meant when he said that one cannot enter heaven (come to God the Father) except through him. Different Christian sects and denominations tend to assume different requirements implicit in the word “through” Jesus Christ, and also when citing Jesus as “the way.” I’m not going to expand on that subject in this particular blogging but instead offer the gist of what one must understand and grasp from what Jesus said. One MUST have an encounter with Jesus in order to achieve heaven. Only God knows what encounter is sufficient for each and every person. So Jesus must be acknowledged as the Messiah and the Savior, and also as the necessary encounter through which all must pass.
There is much about the Holy Spirit in scripture but only two real places where warnings are stated about the forms and consequences of disobedience and disbelief against the Spirit. This is such a serious subject, though, that Jesus expounded on the topic very sternly:
Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come (Matthew 12:31-32).
Jesus is saying something of vital importance and is very precise in his wording. He opens by speaking of the general forgiveness of all types of sin and blasphemy, but when he speaks of the Holy Spirit he does not comment about sins against the Holy Spirit being forgiven or not (which implies that they can be), but he says most specifically that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven. Further, to drive home the point of the unforgivable nature of humans blaspheming the Holy Spirit, Jesus emphasizes that such blasphemy will not be forgiven by God during the first phase of existence (a human life followed by their death and sending to heaven or to hell) NOR when all the dead are raised and judged by God (“the world to come”). Jesus wanted to make perfectly clear with the most dire warning that Holy Spirit blasphemers not only lose their place in heaven and merit hell for certain, but they also have absolutely no chance of forgiveness during Final Judgment and the creation of the New Jerusalem.
Many wonder, what is the difference between blaspheming God and blaspheming the Holy Spirit? Blaspheming God can be forgiven because the “cure,” if you will, to blaspheming God is to believe, respect and obey God. One who has a conversion and begins to truly believe, respect and obey God will not, obviously, continue to blaspheme God and with sincere repentance and conversion can and will be forgiven by God. Likewise Jesus says that all forms of blaspheme against himself is capable of being forgiven. So what exactly is the difference between blaspheming God and/or Jesus Christ, and the unforgivable blaspheming of the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is the creator of the world, God’s instrument in creating all that is, and loving all that is. One blasphemes the Holy Spirit when one blasphemes God’s creative role, his powers of life, his powers of love and his powers of forgiveness. With a simple sentence St. Paul makes this easy to understand:
And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30).
Paul understood and explains with this passage that it is the Holy Spirit who seals (as in the modern meaning of the word “certifies”) that one will be among the elect on the day of redemption. The Holy Spirit sets the seal upon the saved soul; the Holy Spirit “closes the deal,” to use another modern term.
With these two warnings, by Jesus Christ and by St. Paul, there is a common theme: do not make the Holy Spirit sad. Blaspheming the Holy Spirit means that one blasphemes the joyous gifts that God offers. To grieve means to sadden. This is an entirely different tone of admonishment and warning than the better understood strictures against sins and against disbelieving or disrespecting God. Blaspheming the Holy Spirit means a deliberate effort to sadden God by blaspheming the part of God that bestows blessings and who saves souls. That is what is so dire and unforgiveable, that Jesus took pains to explain, contrasting that offense with sins and blasphemy against him himself, which he declares to be forgivable. When one blasphemes Jesus Christ, as stupid and ungrateful as it is, it is not singling out the portion of God who bestows blessings for one’s bile. When one blasphemes the Holy Spirit, one is shoving back into God’s face, with the intention to cause him sadness and, in brief, not only reject but mock and scorn most specifically the blessings and the salvation that he offers through the Holy Spirit. That is what makes blasphemy against the Holy Spirit totally unforgivable, and, as St Paul explains, forfeits one’s being sealed unto the day of redemption.
I hope that you have found this to be helpful.
Much of the Bible is comprised of warnings against offending God himself centers on two main themes: denying God and disrespecting God. The Bible contains specific statements (such as the First and Second Commandment) about either denying or disrespecting God, and one can also read the historical events of what happens to those who choose to deny or disrespect God.
In the New Testament with the arrival of Jesus Christ, the Gospels and the Epistles emphasis that Jesus is not to be denied, but there is a different tone than the respect that is mandatory for God the Father. Jesus never says, for example, that he must be obeyed or believed in as a requirement of the faith, nor does he say he must be treated with respect. In fact he goes so far as to say about himself “And whosoever speaks a word against the Son of man it shall be forgiven him” (Matthew 12:32). Now you have to read that whole passage in its full context to get the entire gist of what he is saying and we will do so in the section on the Holy Spirit, since Jesus was not speaking so much about himself but rather as an introduction to speaking about the Holy Spirit. My point is that Jesus does not issue Commandments about disobedience or denying of him himself. Indeed sins against Jesus that are repented will be forgiven by God. (No such guarantee is given in the Bible about forgiveness for denying or disrespecting God himself, but one lives in hope that sincere repentance to God will result in mercy and forgiveness). So those are two differences in tones between offending God and offending Jesus, to summarize: Jesus does not command belief and obedience as God does, and Jesus promises that even the worse sin against him is capable of being forgiven by God.
Where one IS, however, warned that one cannot ignore or marginalize Jesus, nor forget that he brought to the world the face of God in human form, can be found in two general formats. The first is that people must believe that Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s scripture regarding the Messiah and Savior. One cannot deny that Jesus is the Messiah. The second format is the absolute requirement that one must have an encounter with Jesus. Many have their own interpretation of what Jesus meant when he said that one cannot enter heaven (come to God the Father) except through him. Different Christian sects and denominations tend to assume different requirements implicit in the word “through” Jesus Christ, and also when citing Jesus as “the way.” I’m not going to expand on that subject in this particular blogging but instead offer the gist of what one must understand and grasp from what Jesus said. One MUST have an encounter with Jesus in order to achieve heaven. Only God knows what encounter is sufficient for each and every person. So Jesus must be acknowledged as the Messiah and the Savior, and also as the necessary encounter through which all must pass.
There is much about the Holy Spirit in scripture but only two real places where warnings are stated about the forms and consequences of disobedience and disbelief against the Spirit. This is such a serious subject, though, that Jesus expounded on the topic very sternly:
Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come (Matthew 12:31-32).
Jesus is saying something of vital importance and is very precise in his wording. He opens by speaking of the general forgiveness of all types of sin and blasphemy, but when he speaks of the Holy Spirit he does not comment about sins against the Holy Spirit being forgiven or not (which implies that they can be), but he says most specifically that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven. Further, to drive home the point of the unforgivable nature of humans blaspheming the Holy Spirit, Jesus emphasizes that such blasphemy will not be forgiven by God during the first phase of existence (a human life followed by their death and sending to heaven or to hell) NOR when all the dead are raised and judged by God (“the world to come”). Jesus wanted to make perfectly clear with the most dire warning that Holy Spirit blasphemers not only lose their place in heaven and merit hell for certain, but they also have absolutely no chance of forgiveness during Final Judgment and the creation of the New Jerusalem.
Many wonder, what is the difference between blaspheming God and blaspheming the Holy Spirit? Blaspheming God can be forgiven because the “cure,” if you will, to blaspheming God is to believe, respect and obey God. One who has a conversion and begins to truly believe, respect and obey God will not, obviously, continue to blaspheme God and with sincere repentance and conversion can and will be forgiven by God. Likewise Jesus says that all forms of blaspheme against himself is capable of being forgiven. So what exactly is the difference between blaspheming God and/or Jesus Christ, and the unforgivable blaspheming of the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is the creator of the world, God’s instrument in creating all that is, and loving all that is. One blasphemes the Holy Spirit when one blasphemes God’s creative role, his powers of life, his powers of love and his powers of forgiveness. With a simple sentence St. Paul makes this easy to understand:
And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30).
Paul understood and explains with this passage that it is the Holy Spirit who seals (as in the modern meaning of the word “certifies”) that one will be among the elect on the day of redemption. The Holy Spirit sets the seal upon the saved soul; the Holy Spirit “closes the deal,” to use another modern term.
With these two warnings, by Jesus Christ and by St. Paul, there is a common theme: do not make the Holy Spirit sad. Blaspheming the Holy Spirit means that one blasphemes the joyous gifts that God offers. To grieve means to sadden. This is an entirely different tone of admonishment and warning than the better understood strictures against sins and against disbelieving or disrespecting God. Blaspheming the Holy Spirit means a deliberate effort to sadden God by blaspheming the part of God that bestows blessings and who saves souls. That is what is so dire and unforgiveable, that Jesus took pains to explain, contrasting that offense with sins and blasphemy against him himself, which he declares to be forgivable. When one blasphemes Jesus Christ, as stupid and ungrateful as it is, it is not singling out the portion of God who bestows blessings for one’s bile. When one blasphemes the Holy Spirit, one is shoving back into God’s face, with the intention to cause him sadness and, in brief, not only reject but mock and scorn most specifically the blessings and the salvation that he offers through the Holy Spirit. That is what makes blasphemy against the Holy Spirit totally unforgivable, and, as St Paul explains, forfeits one’s being sealed unto the day of redemption.
I hope that you have found this to be helpful.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Bible Reading and Commentary re: forgiveness
Many people correctly focus on the importance of forgiveness in the Christian faith, and as a principle for humanity as a whole. The Gospels and Epistles are filled with the teaching of Jesus in regard to the importance of and necessity for forgiveness. The Old Testament also discusses God’s requirement for forgiveness, but that is expressed in terms of the Law, where debts must be forgiven, both of monetary debts and the lending of goods. But there is a problem with how moderns have transmuted the understanding of forgiveness in ways that are contrary to the words of the Bible, in black and white, that are plain to be read.
The reason that moderns now misunderstand and actually preach an incorrect gospel is that they hope that Christians are obligated to forgive all sins. Therefore moderns feel that they are easily let off the hook of sin. That is far from true and a very dangerous “interpretation.”
First of all, forgiveness for sin only comes from God, not from humans. Humans cannot forgive each other their sins! Humans can forgive individual wrong doing against one another with one huge exception that will be bulk of my discussion here today. So a human can and should forgive wrongs if it is reasonable to do so. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that a parent, for example “must” forgive the murderer of their child. One cannot transfer responsibility for a wrong from the shoulders of the wrong doer onto the shoulders of the victim. So look again with clear eyes at how Jesus taught the “Our Father” prayer:
Matthew 6:12
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
This is one of the two passages that people constantly point to as Jesus teaching forgiveness. But notice that Jesus is consistent in the Lord’s Prayer with referencing the Old Testament viewpoint of a forgiveness of debts. His parables also focused on the forgiveness of debts. No where in the Bible, either Old or New Testament is it portrayed as necessary to forgive grave wrongs of a behavioral nature. I know, as you read this you are burning to point out to me the second example I mentioned above, but hang on for a minute. There is another point to first make about Matthew 6:12. Notice that it is a chain of forgiveness. The one praying forgives another person his or her debts to him or her, and then in return God forgives the one praying for sins. God is still in control of the forgiving of sins! The humans can forgive each others debts, but they cannot forgive each other’s sins.
The Bible teaches, repeatedly, that sin is an offense against GOD. When someone sins and harms another person, yes, one has then harmed a person with that sin, and the harm is legitimate discussion for potentially generous forgiveness. But the sin itself cannot be forgiven by the victim of the sin because sin is an offense against God because it is defiance of God, his will and what he has plainly ordered of humans. Suppose someone robs you. Yes, you can forgive the person for the harm of the robbery, but you cannot forgive them of their sin that violates one of the Commandments. Do not ever forget that. Ultimately God alone judges whether sin is forgiven.
Thus the important exception to what is the Christian credo of forgiveness is that one cannot forgive a sin that is directed against God, even if the actions of the sin are directed toward the person. The obvious example is that prophets sent by God cannot and did not ever forgive those who persecuted them. I know, you are itching to tell me that I am wrong, but no, you are wrong. Prophets cannot forgive those who defy God by refusing his messengers. It is not within their power because their bodies and what happens to them is in the service of God. So it’s not as though “their feelings are hurt” or they are tortured in and of themselves. When a prophet is persecuted it is sin against God to his face, even if the prophet’s body is the one who bears the scars. No prophet can forgive their persecutor; only God can do that.
So now you are not so eager to point out the second example of Jesus, are you? For now you are beginning to understand. Jesus did not forgive his tormentors. He ASKED God to do so. What was done to Jesus was sin against God and can only be forgiven by God. First of all, recall what Jesus said after he had been scourged and is carrying the cross to his own crucifixion:
Luke 23:27-32
A large crowd of people followed Jesus, including many women who mourned and lamented him. Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep instead for yourselves and for your children, for indeed the days are coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed.’ At that time people will say to the mountains, ‘Fall upon us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ for if these things are done when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?” Now two others, both criminals, were led away with them to be executed.
Now, this was a lot for Jesus to say as he was suffering up the path to Golgotha. Jesus did not say, “Hey, it’s going to be alright, because I forgive them all and so does God.” Instead, Jesus takes the time to point out that they should not mourn him, God’s prophet about to be executed, but they should mourn themselves because as a result really bad times will come. Jesus is the green wood. To understand this you must understand that green wood is freshly cut wood that still has water in it as it is still alive, and thus it is nearly impossible to burn. So Jesus is the living green wood, there as a sign of God’s love among people, with the water of life still in him. Jesus is saying that if they crucify him, the green wood, while he is still among them, how much worse will it be when Jesus has been away from them, the green wood is now gone, and only the dry brown wood that will quickly burn is remaining. So Jesus is warning the women who mourn him that people will deeply regret the sin against God that is the crucifixion of Jesus.
Luke 23:33-34
When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him and the criminals there, one on his right, the other on his left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” They divided his garments by casting lots.
Um, notice that Jesus is not forgiving the people himself. Jesus is not leaning over (as best as he can as he is being crucified after being scourged) and offering forgiveness as he is being crucified. Jesus asks God to forgive them. Jesus does not attempt to forgive them himself. People continually misquote this passage even though it is as plain as the nose on your face. Jesus does NOT do what he cannot do, which is forgive those who are putting to death God’s prophet. Jesus never can or would want to say anything that is misleading, and is anything but perfect in God’s will and truthfulness. So obviously he can not and would not “make a good example by forgiving those as they are nailing him.” I mean, would you actually read the scripture please?
Jesus had previously made the point that sins are the purview of God to forgive, and not humans forgiving each other for sin. That is plain when Jesus actually lists what sins (those against the Holy Spirit) that God will NOT forgive.
Matthew 12:31-32
Therefore, I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
This seems difficult to understand but it is not. Notice that Jesus is referring to himself as the Son of Man, not the Son of God. Thus he is referring to his bodily presence. Therefore if someone blasphemes Jesus he is wronging another human person, and thus can be forgiven by God, in theory. Jesus is saying that any wrong done against him (foreshadowing the crucifixion) can be forgiven if one repents and God wills forgiveness, as it is a “human on human” sin. However, one cannot sin against the Holy Spirit in a “human on human” way. A sin against the Holy Spirit is a sin that is totally different from a sin against Jesus himself, because a sin against the Holy Spirit is directly against God.
Thus Jesus is underscoring that he is God’s prophet, in human body, the Son of God but also the Son of Man. However, the point that anything against him can, in theory, be forgiven, should there be genuine repentance is only made in order to deliver one of his starkest and blunt warnings. When one sins against the Holy Spirit one is not committing a “human on human” offense, but defying and blaspheming God’s will to his face. This is true even if it is a human-on-human method by which one sins and blasphemes the Holy Spirit.
That is why Jesus says “speaks against the Holy Spirit.” Speaking is a human on human action, where someone is speaking and someone listens. So if someone blasphemes the Holy Spirit to someone else, it’s not like the listener can say, “Wow, you said a really bad thing about the Holy Spirit, but I forgive you.” THAT is the point that Jesus is driving home and it is crucial that people understand.
This is because, again, like killing a prophet, it’s not a matter of hurting the feelings of the listener or bruising, cutting or killing the prophet’s body. Just as the persecution and murder of a prophet of God is a direct sin against God, and not per se against the prophet, blaspheming the Holy Spirit is an attempt to hinder the work of salvation that the Holy Spirit is engaged in, constantly. A Holy Spirit blasphemer is not “hurting the feelings of the Holy Spirit” or of the person who reads or overhears the blasphemy. A Holy Spirit blasphemer is attempting to thwart God’s will to save as many people as possible by attacking the faith through blasphemy. Thus the Holy Spirit blasphemer is saying to God, “No, I will not allow you to save people and reach their souls, and bring them to salvation, because I with my mind and my mouth and my deeds will oppose you.” A Holy Spirit blasphemer is assigning his or herself the role of Lucifer.
So when moronic teenagers get on the Internet and “deny the Holy Spirit” in order to test God and demonstrate that they do not believe, they are totally being childish and missing the point. A Holy Spirit blasphemer works against the saving of souls, not just mouth a stupid test into the cameras. Thus someone blasphemes the Holy Spirit when they tear down and embarrass and profane those who are working for salvation under the inspiration and protection of the Holy Spirit. THAT is what cannot be forgiven because the Holy Spirit blasphemer is attempting to hinder God’s work through the Holy Spirit of the rescuing and saving of souls.
Suppose a nun is raped. That is an example of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit and the nun cannot forgive that on God’s behalf. Why? Because the rape is done to degrade and terrorize the faithful and take them off of the path of salvation. The nun can forgive the battering of her body and her degradation, but she cannot forgive the reasoning and objective of the attack and degradation, which was to terrorize and spread disbelief. Thus when someone rapes a nun, in this example, he or she is basically saying, “Look, I have defiled one of your believers. If you, God, actually exist, you would have stopped it.” Thus the rapist is not only a dirty beast of a human, but defying God in order to destroy the salvation of those around who observe the nun’s disgrace.
How do we know this? Again, look at the example of Jesus.
Matthew 27:26-31
Then he released Barabbas to them, but after he had Jesus scourged, he handed him over to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus inside the praetorium and gathered the whole cohort around him. They stripped off his clothes and threw a scarlet military cloak about him. Weaving a crown out of thorns, they placed it on his head, and a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spat upon him and took the reed and kept striking him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the cloak, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him off to crucify him.
Do you notice Jesus is not “forgiving” them as they rip his flesh off with whips, tear his forehead and head with the crown of thorns, strip him in front of the invited throng of the audience, strike him on the head, spit on him, and mock him? Notice that the soldiers “gathered the whole cohort around” Jesus. They deliberately got together a crowd to witness his mockery and torture. That is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, using Jesus as the mechanism. They degraded Jesus in order to defy and degrade the Holy Spirit, and those are the people who will not be forgiven. Jesus only asks God to forgive those who are nailing him to the wood when he is actually being crucified and raised on the cross. There is, as in everything Jesus said and did, great significance, for both hope but also for dire warning. Jesus did not walk in a procession of forgiving everyone as they did it because he would not and could not. Prophet killing and the degradation of those who preach God’s word is direct sin against God, not human on human subject for forgiveness.
This is why God is asked by Jesus to forgive those who are actually doing the nailing of him to the cross. Jesus does not speak a word of forgiveness during all the torture as lead up to the crucifixion, and he never presumes to forgive sin against God on God’s behalf as the sin is taking place. Jesus warned that some sin, the blaspheming of the Holy Spirit, will not be forgiven. That is why he told the women that they should mourn themselves and their people, going forward, not Jesus himself, because the consequences of such sin will be dire. Jesus could not have been more clear throughout the Gospel of the difference between sinning against him as the Son of Man (and thus the potential for forgiveness though, as we saw with Judas, he did not avail himself of that possibility) and “speaking against” and thus blaspheming the Holy Spirit.
The reason that moderns now misunderstand and actually preach an incorrect gospel is that they hope that Christians are obligated to forgive all sins. Therefore moderns feel that they are easily let off the hook of sin. That is far from true and a very dangerous “interpretation.”
First of all, forgiveness for sin only comes from God, not from humans. Humans cannot forgive each other their sins! Humans can forgive individual wrong doing against one another with one huge exception that will be bulk of my discussion here today. So a human can and should forgive wrongs if it is reasonable to do so. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that a parent, for example “must” forgive the murderer of their child. One cannot transfer responsibility for a wrong from the shoulders of the wrong doer onto the shoulders of the victim. So look again with clear eyes at how Jesus taught the “Our Father” prayer:
Matthew 6:12
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
This is one of the two passages that people constantly point to as Jesus teaching forgiveness. But notice that Jesus is consistent in the Lord’s Prayer with referencing the Old Testament viewpoint of a forgiveness of debts. His parables also focused on the forgiveness of debts. No where in the Bible, either Old or New Testament is it portrayed as necessary to forgive grave wrongs of a behavioral nature. I know, as you read this you are burning to point out to me the second example I mentioned above, but hang on for a minute. There is another point to first make about Matthew 6:12. Notice that it is a chain of forgiveness. The one praying forgives another person his or her debts to him or her, and then in return God forgives the one praying for sins. God is still in control of the forgiving of sins! The humans can forgive each others debts, but they cannot forgive each other’s sins.
The Bible teaches, repeatedly, that sin is an offense against GOD. When someone sins and harms another person, yes, one has then harmed a person with that sin, and the harm is legitimate discussion for potentially generous forgiveness. But the sin itself cannot be forgiven by the victim of the sin because sin is an offense against God because it is defiance of God, his will and what he has plainly ordered of humans. Suppose someone robs you. Yes, you can forgive the person for the harm of the robbery, but you cannot forgive them of their sin that violates one of the Commandments. Do not ever forget that. Ultimately God alone judges whether sin is forgiven.
Thus the important exception to what is the Christian credo of forgiveness is that one cannot forgive a sin that is directed against God, even if the actions of the sin are directed toward the person. The obvious example is that prophets sent by God cannot and did not ever forgive those who persecuted them. I know, you are itching to tell me that I am wrong, but no, you are wrong. Prophets cannot forgive those who defy God by refusing his messengers. It is not within their power because their bodies and what happens to them is in the service of God. So it’s not as though “their feelings are hurt” or they are tortured in and of themselves. When a prophet is persecuted it is sin against God to his face, even if the prophet’s body is the one who bears the scars. No prophet can forgive their persecutor; only God can do that.
So now you are not so eager to point out the second example of Jesus, are you? For now you are beginning to understand. Jesus did not forgive his tormentors. He ASKED God to do so. What was done to Jesus was sin against God and can only be forgiven by God. First of all, recall what Jesus said after he had been scourged and is carrying the cross to his own crucifixion:
Luke 23:27-32
A large crowd of people followed Jesus, including many women who mourned and lamented him. Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep instead for yourselves and for your children, for indeed the days are coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed.’ At that time people will say to the mountains, ‘Fall upon us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ for if these things are done when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?” Now two others, both criminals, were led away with them to be executed.
Now, this was a lot for Jesus to say as he was suffering up the path to Golgotha. Jesus did not say, “Hey, it’s going to be alright, because I forgive them all and so does God.” Instead, Jesus takes the time to point out that they should not mourn him, God’s prophet about to be executed, but they should mourn themselves because as a result really bad times will come. Jesus is the green wood. To understand this you must understand that green wood is freshly cut wood that still has water in it as it is still alive, and thus it is nearly impossible to burn. So Jesus is the living green wood, there as a sign of God’s love among people, with the water of life still in him. Jesus is saying that if they crucify him, the green wood, while he is still among them, how much worse will it be when Jesus has been away from them, the green wood is now gone, and only the dry brown wood that will quickly burn is remaining. So Jesus is warning the women who mourn him that people will deeply regret the sin against God that is the crucifixion of Jesus.
Luke 23:33-34
When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him and the criminals there, one on his right, the other on his left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” They divided his garments by casting lots.
Um, notice that Jesus is not forgiving the people himself. Jesus is not leaning over (as best as he can as he is being crucified after being scourged) and offering forgiveness as he is being crucified. Jesus asks God to forgive them. Jesus does not attempt to forgive them himself. People continually misquote this passage even though it is as plain as the nose on your face. Jesus does NOT do what he cannot do, which is forgive those who are putting to death God’s prophet. Jesus never can or would want to say anything that is misleading, and is anything but perfect in God’s will and truthfulness. So obviously he can not and would not “make a good example by forgiving those as they are nailing him.” I mean, would you actually read the scripture please?
Jesus had previously made the point that sins are the purview of God to forgive, and not humans forgiving each other for sin. That is plain when Jesus actually lists what sins (those against the Holy Spirit) that God will NOT forgive.
Matthew 12:31-32
Therefore, I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
This seems difficult to understand but it is not. Notice that Jesus is referring to himself as the Son of Man, not the Son of God. Thus he is referring to his bodily presence. Therefore if someone blasphemes Jesus he is wronging another human person, and thus can be forgiven by God, in theory. Jesus is saying that any wrong done against him (foreshadowing the crucifixion) can be forgiven if one repents and God wills forgiveness, as it is a “human on human” sin. However, one cannot sin against the Holy Spirit in a “human on human” way. A sin against the Holy Spirit is a sin that is totally different from a sin against Jesus himself, because a sin against the Holy Spirit is directly against God.
Thus Jesus is underscoring that he is God’s prophet, in human body, the Son of God but also the Son of Man. However, the point that anything against him can, in theory, be forgiven, should there be genuine repentance is only made in order to deliver one of his starkest and blunt warnings. When one sins against the Holy Spirit one is not committing a “human on human” offense, but defying and blaspheming God’s will to his face. This is true even if it is a human-on-human method by which one sins and blasphemes the Holy Spirit.
That is why Jesus says “speaks against the Holy Spirit.” Speaking is a human on human action, where someone is speaking and someone listens. So if someone blasphemes the Holy Spirit to someone else, it’s not like the listener can say, “Wow, you said a really bad thing about the Holy Spirit, but I forgive you.” THAT is the point that Jesus is driving home and it is crucial that people understand.
This is because, again, like killing a prophet, it’s not a matter of hurting the feelings of the listener or bruising, cutting or killing the prophet’s body. Just as the persecution and murder of a prophet of God is a direct sin against God, and not per se against the prophet, blaspheming the Holy Spirit is an attempt to hinder the work of salvation that the Holy Spirit is engaged in, constantly. A Holy Spirit blasphemer is not “hurting the feelings of the Holy Spirit” or of the person who reads or overhears the blasphemy. A Holy Spirit blasphemer is attempting to thwart God’s will to save as many people as possible by attacking the faith through blasphemy. Thus the Holy Spirit blasphemer is saying to God, “No, I will not allow you to save people and reach their souls, and bring them to salvation, because I with my mind and my mouth and my deeds will oppose you.” A Holy Spirit blasphemer is assigning his or herself the role of Lucifer.
So when moronic teenagers get on the Internet and “deny the Holy Spirit” in order to test God and demonstrate that they do not believe, they are totally being childish and missing the point. A Holy Spirit blasphemer works against the saving of souls, not just mouth a stupid test into the cameras. Thus someone blasphemes the Holy Spirit when they tear down and embarrass and profane those who are working for salvation under the inspiration and protection of the Holy Spirit. THAT is what cannot be forgiven because the Holy Spirit blasphemer is attempting to hinder God’s work through the Holy Spirit of the rescuing and saving of souls.
Suppose a nun is raped. That is an example of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit and the nun cannot forgive that on God’s behalf. Why? Because the rape is done to degrade and terrorize the faithful and take them off of the path of salvation. The nun can forgive the battering of her body and her degradation, but she cannot forgive the reasoning and objective of the attack and degradation, which was to terrorize and spread disbelief. Thus when someone rapes a nun, in this example, he or she is basically saying, “Look, I have defiled one of your believers. If you, God, actually exist, you would have stopped it.” Thus the rapist is not only a dirty beast of a human, but defying God in order to destroy the salvation of those around who observe the nun’s disgrace.
How do we know this? Again, look at the example of Jesus.
Matthew 27:26-31
Then he released Barabbas to them, but after he had Jesus scourged, he handed him over to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus inside the praetorium and gathered the whole cohort around him. They stripped off his clothes and threw a scarlet military cloak about him. Weaving a crown out of thorns, they placed it on his head, and a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spat upon him and took the reed and kept striking him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the cloak, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him off to crucify him.
Do you notice Jesus is not “forgiving” them as they rip his flesh off with whips, tear his forehead and head with the crown of thorns, strip him in front of the invited throng of the audience, strike him on the head, spit on him, and mock him? Notice that the soldiers “gathered the whole cohort around” Jesus. They deliberately got together a crowd to witness his mockery and torture. That is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, using Jesus as the mechanism. They degraded Jesus in order to defy and degrade the Holy Spirit, and those are the people who will not be forgiven. Jesus only asks God to forgive those who are nailing him to the wood when he is actually being crucified and raised on the cross. There is, as in everything Jesus said and did, great significance, for both hope but also for dire warning. Jesus did not walk in a procession of forgiving everyone as they did it because he would not and could not. Prophet killing and the degradation of those who preach God’s word is direct sin against God, not human on human subject for forgiveness.
This is why God is asked by Jesus to forgive those who are actually doing the nailing of him to the cross. Jesus does not speak a word of forgiveness during all the torture as lead up to the crucifixion, and he never presumes to forgive sin against God on God’s behalf as the sin is taking place. Jesus warned that some sin, the blaspheming of the Holy Spirit, will not be forgiven. That is why he told the women that they should mourn themselves and their people, going forward, not Jesus himself, because the consequences of such sin will be dire. Jesus could not have been more clear throughout the Gospel of the difference between sinning against him as the Son of Man (and thus the potential for forgiveness though, as we saw with Judas, he did not avail himself of that possibility) and “speaking against” and thus blaspheming the Holy Spirit.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Dead sculptor Robert Graham
Boy is he regretting the profane statue he made of the Blessed Virgin Mary for that abomination of a cathedral in Los Angeles.
He portrayed her with hair cropped like a prostitute who had her hair cut in disgrace, dressed in sackcloth and looking like a boy.
Boy, is he regretting it, when it is exactly too late.
Repent while you can.
By the way, if as an "artist" you find you just can't "resist" the "inspiration" to be negatively revisionist about the only good and holy people who ever lived, I suggest you convert to Islam where graven images are forbidden. It might save your soul. It just might.
He portrayed her with hair cropped like a prostitute who had her hair cut in disgrace, dressed in sackcloth and looking like a boy.
Boy, is he regretting it, when it is exactly too late.
Repent while you can.
By the way, if as an "artist" you find you just can't "resist" the "inspiration" to be negatively revisionist about the only good and holy people who ever lived, I suggest you convert to Islam where graven images are forbidden. It might save your soul. It just might.
Friday, December 19, 2008
I'm just the messenger; you all better listen
As I have repeatedly told people throughout my life, I'm not making this stuff up, nor am I revelating: I am just the messenger of what has always been and always will be, without change. God has already provided an abundance of information, love, tolerance and grace; there is nothing that I nor anyone else can add to his message, not one iota. Further, I have explained repeatedly that God is the all knowing.
Therefore, when someone like me comes across something disgraceful and disgusting, such as pornographic blasphemy, this is my first thought. "How can this moron not realize that God knows everything that he or she has done, even before he or she created this monstrosity?" God knows every thought even before you have it, and so obviously God knows all about the blasphemy and the porn. I am hardly necessary to be God's "eyes." Further, even if I was the last to know (and I'm not), that does not make one iota of difference. As I said, God knows everything that anyone says, does, thinks and intends to do, and their motivation, including the joy that they get from demeaning and degrading others, even if the works are not publicly displayed. So my first thought is, "Here we have another moron who somehow thinks that anything is 'possible' and is all 'open minded,' yet they are so moronic that they don't realize the obvious truth that God is all knowing of everything they do."
So why does God not strike down someone who does such harm, such as producing pornographic blasphemy and, worse, inculcating his or her own family to share the psychosis that underlies such a worldview? To summarize what I have repeatedly explained to people:
1.) God has taught the reality of earthly life, followed by either heaven or hell for individuals according to their disbelief and their deeds, repeatedly and clearly, in many languages, over the centuries, to many prophets. So God has been very clear about the ground rules and the reality.
2.) God has also made clear that humans have to live among each other, make their own decisions, and have free will. This free will sometimes mean people opt for hell, and drag a lot of people along with them. By the way, don't paint pictures of people smiling in hell (unless it's a funny cartoon) because let me tell you to your virtual face, there is not a single person who is doing anything but screaming their burning guts out in hell. Period.
3.) Because God has given humans free will within a perfectly clear code of conduct and expectations, with very clear statement of consequences, you are expected to self regulate. This is why until recently one's own family would put to death a pornographic blasphemer. It is only in the last century have the average people tolerated physical and spiritual perversion, as they have lost touch with the reality of the consequences of a very real hell. So God does not prune human behavior via smiting because humans have no hope of surviving in life (say nothing of salvation) if they are not responsible and sane self-regulating adults, and they have to learn that themselves just as they have to learn to wash their hands after going to the toilet.
4.) One cannot make assumptions about God's approval of a person and that person's lifespan. I cannot believe I have to explain this in "Moron 101" class, but people live or die according to genetics, ability to have life sustaining food and water, disease, accident and mishap. I mean, you have thousands of years of billions of people and you are too stupid to realize that people do not live according to their sanctity or evil (or the vast in between) but according to biology and behavior? The village idiot who could not read two hundred years ago understood that; why can't you?
5.) When God does "smite" someone, it usually happens in one of two ways, and for, as you will see, the same logic but for different purposes:
a.) God has been known to smite or call to him someone who is worth bringing to heaven, but is on the road of such dire sin that if he or she continues with that sin, he or she will lose heaven and merit hell. This is explained when God called to him King Solomon when Solomon started in his old age worshipping idols because of the influence of his many pagan wives. God knows all and obviously sees the track that one is on and this is why the Bible documents very clearly what happened to the much loved King Solomon; God took him, took his life, so that he could still achieve the heaven he had merited before throwing it all away in unforgivable sin.
Far from being comforted that one has not been "smited," aged wicked sinners should be very afraid that God is not smiting them because he has already written them off as willfully hell bound. I have frequently looked on the face or works of such people, knowing that their smugness will not last a second after they die, no matter how long they live or how powerful they think that they are. No, there are no smug faces in hell either, and one need not worry about how young or old one was when one gets there, because eternity = eternity.
b.) When God does smite a sinner, young, middle aged or old, it is usually accomplished like this. God allows the consequences of their sin to catch up with them. To use an old saying, "He lets the chips fall where they may." Sinners, the big time sinner, usually share one thing in common. They lose focus on details, such as safety, because they are too busy thinking how wonderful and spiritual they are, or where they are going to perform the next looting. As a result they are not always the most prudent of people. Sin affects health too, and brings on cancer, heart disease and so forth, not as punishment but because a sinful life often releases the same destructive agents such as stress within the body, invoking the natural ailments.
Thus when God wants to smite, he usually just has to wait for time and consequences to suddenly "SNAP!" Big time sinners, since they do not believe, often put themselves (and others) in dangerous situations, since they lose all sense of mortality and humility, not only for themselves but for others. God and the guardian angels just stand there and watch.
It is ironic that the very people who most quote, "What goes around comes around, it's 'karma!"" are the most dumbfounded and stupid when the "karma" bus runs them over and instead of being "punked by Ashton" they realize it's no joke when they die and are judged to hell, "You've been smited by God!"
By the way, those who are cast into hell don't get to "hang around" being "judged by God..." they never see him. Vengeful angels of God cast the damned straight into hell; they never get to state their "spin."
6.) One of the big clues that people should have that the Catholic Church is the Apostolic church created and headed by Jesus Christ is that the Church opposes the death penalty for criminals. Why is this a clue? Because the Catholic Church, in its humility, refuses to give up on a single person, hoping that even the most wicked in life imprisonment will have a repentance and spiritual conversion experience. This is what being the Vicar of Jesus Christ really means. This does not mean that the Catholic Church is saying that God himself never smites. The Catholic Church in its wisdom and mercy prays for the maintenance of every life to the natural end, so that there is maximum chance for grace, repentance and salvation.
It is therefore doubly ironic and extremely unappreciated by God when the wicked, such as pornographic blasphemers, target the very personages beloved in the Catholic Church, such as Mary, who maintain the maximum potential for mercy and salvation for the very people who harm them. Read about the angry angels in Revelations, how they will cast the burning censer down upon those whose stench of sin continually rises up to heaven. Talk about people who bite the hand that would feed them; the very Catholics who fight to maintain the length of even the most wicked peoples lives so that they might find for themselves a chance to be saved are hurt, mocked, defamed, and spiritually or physically violated, rather than being appreciated and thanked. So no, it's not like God is against the death penalty; rather, he loves the Church that maintains the most hope for even the most dire sinner.
Therefore, when someone like me comes across something disgraceful and disgusting, such as pornographic blasphemy, this is my first thought. "How can this moron not realize that God knows everything that he or she has done, even before he or she created this monstrosity?" God knows every thought even before you have it, and so obviously God knows all about the blasphemy and the porn. I am hardly necessary to be God's "eyes." Further, even if I was the last to know (and I'm not), that does not make one iota of difference. As I said, God knows everything that anyone says, does, thinks and intends to do, and their motivation, including the joy that they get from demeaning and degrading others, even if the works are not publicly displayed. So my first thought is, "Here we have another moron who somehow thinks that anything is 'possible' and is all 'open minded,' yet they are so moronic that they don't realize the obvious truth that God is all knowing of everything they do."
So why does God not strike down someone who does such harm, such as producing pornographic blasphemy and, worse, inculcating his or her own family to share the psychosis that underlies such a worldview? To summarize what I have repeatedly explained to people:
1.) God has taught the reality of earthly life, followed by either heaven or hell for individuals according to their disbelief and their deeds, repeatedly and clearly, in many languages, over the centuries, to many prophets. So God has been very clear about the ground rules and the reality.
2.) God has also made clear that humans have to live among each other, make their own decisions, and have free will. This free will sometimes mean people opt for hell, and drag a lot of people along with them. By the way, don't paint pictures of people smiling in hell (unless it's a funny cartoon) because let me tell you to your virtual face, there is not a single person who is doing anything but screaming their burning guts out in hell. Period.
3.) Because God has given humans free will within a perfectly clear code of conduct and expectations, with very clear statement of consequences, you are expected to self regulate. This is why until recently one's own family would put to death a pornographic blasphemer. It is only in the last century have the average people tolerated physical and spiritual perversion, as they have lost touch with the reality of the consequences of a very real hell. So God does not prune human behavior via smiting because humans have no hope of surviving in life (say nothing of salvation) if they are not responsible and sane self-regulating adults, and they have to learn that themselves just as they have to learn to wash their hands after going to the toilet.
4.) One cannot make assumptions about God's approval of a person and that person's lifespan. I cannot believe I have to explain this in "Moron 101" class, but people live or die according to genetics, ability to have life sustaining food and water, disease, accident and mishap. I mean, you have thousands of years of billions of people and you are too stupid to realize that people do not live according to their sanctity or evil (or the vast in between) but according to biology and behavior? The village idiot who could not read two hundred years ago understood that; why can't you?
5.) When God does "smite" someone, it usually happens in one of two ways, and for, as you will see, the same logic but for different purposes:
a.) God has been known to smite or call to him someone who is worth bringing to heaven, but is on the road of such dire sin that if he or she continues with that sin, he or she will lose heaven and merit hell. This is explained when God called to him King Solomon when Solomon started in his old age worshipping idols because of the influence of his many pagan wives. God knows all and obviously sees the track that one is on and this is why the Bible documents very clearly what happened to the much loved King Solomon; God took him, took his life, so that he could still achieve the heaven he had merited before throwing it all away in unforgivable sin.
Far from being comforted that one has not been "smited," aged wicked sinners should be very afraid that God is not smiting them because he has already written them off as willfully hell bound. I have frequently looked on the face or works of such people, knowing that their smugness will not last a second after they die, no matter how long they live or how powerful they think that they are. No, there are no smug faces in hell either, and one need not worry about how young or old one was when one gets there, because eternity = eternity.
b.) When God does smite a sinner, young, middle aged or old, it is usually accomplished like this. God allows the consequences of their sin to catch up with them. To use an old saying, "He lets the chips fall where they may." Sinners, the big time sinner, usually share one thing in common. They lose focus on details, such as safety, because they are too busy thinking how wonderful and spiritual they are, or where they are going to perform the next looting. As a result they are not always the most prudent of people. Sin affects health too, and brings on cancer, heart disease and so forth, not as punishment but because a sinful life often releases the same destructive agents such as stress within the body, invoking the natural ailments.
Thus when God wants to smite, he usually just has to wait for time and consequences to suddenly "SNAP!" Big time sinners, since they do not believe, often put themselves (and others) in dangerous situations, since they lose all sense of mortality and humility, not only for themselves but for others. God and the guardian angels just stand there and watch.
It is ironic that the very people who most quote, "What goes around comes around, it's 'karma!"" are the most dumbfounded and stupid when the "karma" bus runs them over and instead of being "punked by Ashton" they realize it's no joke when they die and are judged to hell, "You've been smited by God!"
By the way, those who are cast into hell don't get to "hang around" being "judged by God..." they never see him. Vengeful angels of God cast the damned straight into hell; they never get to state their "spin."
6.) One of the big clues that people should have that the Catholic Church is the Apostolic church created and headed by Jesus Christ is that the Church opposes the death penalty for criminals. Why is this a clue? Because the Catholic Church, in its humility, refuses to give up on a single person, hoping that even the most wicked in life imprisonment will have a repentance and spiritual conversion experience. This is what being the Vicar of Jesus Christ really means. This does not mean that the Catholic Church is saying that God himself never smites. The Catholic Church in its wisdom and mercy prays for the maintenance of every life to the natural end, so that there is maximum chance for grace, repentance and salvation.
It is therefore doubly ironic and extremely unappreciated by God when the wicked, such as pornographic blasphemers, target the very personages beloved in the Catholic Church, such as Mary, who maintain the maximum potential for mercy and salvation for the very people who harm them. Read about the angry angels in Revelations, how they will cast the burning censer down upon those whose stench of sin continually rises up to heaven. Talk about people who bite the hand that would feed them; the very Catholics who fight to maintain the length of even the most wicked peoples lives so that they might find for themselves a chance to be saved are hurt, mocked, defamed, and spiritually or physically violated, rather than being appreciated and thanked. So no, it's not like God is against the death penalty; rather, he loves the Church that maintains the most hope for even the most dire sinner.
7.) How sane is it when people, such as the pornographic blasphemer, drag their family, their friends, their colleagues, and the public at large down the same dangerous road as they? The same people who claim to care about others so deeply and will demonstrate it in routine life ways, even being "generous," do not care that their depraved dark worldview, like a virus, infects and destroys those who they "care" about? Jesus warned the most dire warning possible about those who lead children into sin for this very reason; for all that one sins, when one leads the young into the same sin, salvation becomes impossible as those sins cannot be "overlooked," "forgiven," or purified in purgatory. Those who die in a state of having corrupted others, especially the young, can count on being damned; there is no pretty way to put it.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Reminder that God knows all
I continue to despair over the stupidity of people who believe in God but thinks he doesn't "know what you are up to." Here is an example. I know people who have committed the worse blasphemies imaginable. I'll give a mild example: incredibly disgusting tattoos. These morons worry about what I will think about the tattoos, like showing them to me results in a newsflash to God. God knows everything as it happens (and in advance) so he already knows about your stupid blasphemous tattoos in addition to the stupid blasphemous thoughts that you had as lead up to actually getting the tattoos.
Likewise, how can you be the one to judge what God can or cannot forgive? You act like it is under your control about when you "come clean" on blasphemous actions. But God already knows what you have done. There is no reason on earth to act like a cat in the litterbox covering up what God already knows, and there is no reason and indeed it is further sin to delay remedy to the offended parties. Building a church while still holding your blasphemous beliefs toward innocent people is not remediation.
Likewise, how can you be the one to judge what God can or cannot forgive? You act like it is under your control about when you "come clean" on blasphemous actions. But God already knows what you have done. There is no reason on earth to act like a cat in the litterbox covering up what God already knows, and there is no reason and indeed it is further sin to delay remedy to the offended parties. Building a church while still holding your blasphemous beliefs toward innocent people is not remediation.
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