Search Members

[beenblake]

Dear Nick,

There is something else you should know. Even Christians have difficulty believing that God came to earth, lived as a man, and died on the cross. How could God come die? How could God be both the son and the father?

This is a great mystery. It defies all logic and reasoning. It is absurd to all rational thought. Yet, this is what our faith is based upon. Our faith is based upon Jesus Christ, our Lord and God, our Savior, our King, and our Redeemer. We depend on Him entirely in all things. We know Jesus was a man. There is historical evidence of this. However, who could ever believe that Jesus was God?

It requires faith, a child-like faith. Who but a child could accept such an outlandish notion? And yet, this is what we must believe. We must believe that Jesus is our God, for how else could we be saved?

God did not make it easy for us to believe this. In fact, it has been well hidden. The bible does not make it apparent. Nothing on earth makes it apparent. Truly, to call out to Jesus and ask Him to save us is a leap of faith. We must take that leap and call out to Him. We must ask Jesus, “Please my Lord, save me from my sins.” Only God can do such a thing.

Christians even have difficulty believing in this. That is why the whole doctrine of the Trinity even exists. The doctrine of the Trinity is man's attempt at explaining how God could come to earth as a man and die for all our sins. However, even the doctrine of the Trinity fails at a point to explain this great mystery.

This question has no logical answer. This mystery cannot be solved. It cannot be explained. It is a mystery. God has made it a mystery intentionally. He doesn't want people to find Him through logic and reasoning. He doesn't want people to come to Him through the bible. He doesn't want people to be forced into believing.

God wants people to come to Him through Jesus Christ. He wants people to worship Him in spirit and truth. He wants people to come willingly and to believe in Him with thier heart. God wants people to come to Him in love. This choice is made available through Jesus Christ, whereby God loved us first, and so, we may love Him in return with gratitude.

God has made faith a choice. The choice is simple: will you accept Jesus into your heart? Will you believe in Him?

Do you believe Jesus is God, the one who is greater than you, the one who is Holy and supreme, THE ONE AND ONLY? Do you believe Jesus can forgive your sins? Do you believe Jesus can save you? Do you believe you need to be saved?

The choice is yours. Will you give yourself to Jesus?

In love,
Blake

[beenblake]

Dear Nick,

You said, “Who was working through Christ? God was working through Christ”

Of course, God was working through Christ. Jesus is God.

Jesus is both God and man. God came to earth and lived as a man. This is called the incarnation. By doing this, by coming to earth and being born into a woman, as an offspring of David, God was able to reconcile the large gap between Himself and man.

God loved us first. God is first. Through Christ, God has been first in all things.

We could argue this for years. It is not something that can be discovered through debate or logic. It is the great mystery of faith. Faith is blind. If you could prove it and see it, then it would not be faith. You just have to believe in Jesus. You have to believe that Jesus the man born in Bethlehem is Jesus the Christ, the Lord God become flesh. There is no way to prove it.

True faith starts by going to Jesus Christ and asking Him about the truth. If you really want to know truth, goto the source. Goto Jesus. He is the truth. There is no truth apart from Jesus. Whether you believe that Jesus is God or not, it is quite obvious that you believe Jesus Christ is alive in Heaven. Call out to Him and ask Him.

Otherwise, you are just depending on your own understanding. You are not believing in Jesus, you are believing in yourself. You follow your own logical conclusions. You base your faith on your own interpretation of the bible or that of men, rather than asking Jesus it's true meaning.

Trust in Jesus and ask Him what is true. Let Him answer your prayers.

In love,
Blake

[beenblake]

Dear Nick,

You said, “How foolish of them! God has made it plain to them that they too are sons of God so how could this be blasphemy?”

The Pharisees were not idiots. They were intelligent and well-educated men. They knew that Jesus was not just proclaiming to be any Israelite, any child of God. Jesus was proclaiming to be the “Christ.” He was proclaiming to be the Messiah.

They knew the Messiah would be called the son of God, as it is made apparent in the Old Testament. Isaiah 9:6 says “a son is born to us.” Psalms 2:12 says “do homage to the son.” They new that God's annointed one would come from Heaven. They knew He would be God for He would be God's chosen King to rule over Israel. Israel had but one King, the Lord. The Messiah would be the Lord.

That is why they accused Jesus of blasphemy. They did not believe in Him. Jesus said He was the Christ, and they rejected Him. They wanted undeniable evidence. They thought if they could kill Jesus, that would prove He was not God.

In love,
Blake

[beenblake]

Dear Nick,

If you notice, it says “BE BAPTISED IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST.” This means that you are baptized by Jesus Christ. I was baptized “in the name of Jesus Christ” by Jesus Christ who was working through a representative of His.

When the disciples went forth, they performed all miracles “in the name of Jesus.” They acted as His representative, in place of Him. They could only do those miracles and forgive sins, not because they actually had the power to forgive, but because Jesus was working through them. Only those disciples whom Jesus sent had the power to do such miracles. Only those He chose. Not anyone could say, “in the name of Jesus” and see the power of God. Jesus had granted those disciples the power of His Spirit, and it was acknowledged that the power came from Jesus by saying, “in the name of Jesus.”

Thus, the disciples did not forgive sins. Jesus forgave sins.

There is no other name on Heaven or earth that bears such power as the name of Jesus Christ. You cannot be baptized into any other name. There is no other way to Heaven accept through Jesus Christ.

Here is some questions for you….

If Jesus is not God, then how could He breath the Holy Spirit (God's Spirit) onto the disciples as it says in John 20:22?

And….have you accepted Jesus as your Lord?

In love,
Blake

[beenblake]

Dear Nick,

“True servanthood to a Lord involves obedience to him. Indeed forgiveness is available to all who submit to baptism into the Son.”

Forgiveness is not something a person can earn. You are not forgiven for your sins by being baptized. That is foolishness. That is not true forgivness.

Forgiveness is something given and accepted. That is why it is called grace. God's grace is free. It can be given to anyone who turns to Christ and repents. Anyone who believes in Jesus may have eternal life. It doesn't say, “anyone who believes Jesus.” This is a big difference. To believe in Jesus means that you believe in His person. This means you believe that Jesus came to earth and lived as a man. He was a real man who suffered and died for our sins. This also means you believe Jesus is God. Only God can forgive sins. If Jesus is not God, then He can't forgive your sins. Jesus is God. Jesus can forgive sins.

God does require a sign of our faith. It is not a work he requires. It is not something we do to earn forgiveness. It is merely acceptance. We accept forgiveness. We do this by believeing in Jesus.

True baptism is something God gives us. It is not something we earn. When you have truly called out to Jesus in repentence and humility, then Jesus baptizes with the Spirit. He does this to help us. He does this to save us.

However, this is not something you can earn. This is something given. And unless you call out to Jesus Christ, you cannot recieve this gift. It does not come from any other way. Jesus is the way. He is the only way.

In love,
Blake

[beenblake]

I found this quote and I think it will be helpful in this discussion:

John 5:18 says they sought the death penalty against Jesus, charging Him with blasphemy “because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.”

In that culture, a dignitary's adult son was deemed equal in stature and privilege with his father. The same deference demanded by a king was afforded to his adult son. The son was, after all, of the very same essence as his father, heir to all the father's rights and privileges—and therefore equal in every significant regard. So when Jesus was called “Son of God,” it was understood categorically by all as a title of deity, making Him equal with God and (more significantly) of the same essence as the Father. That is precisely why the Jewish leaders regarded the title “Son of God” as high blasphemy.

By John MacArthur

Calling Jesus, God's Son, makes Him equal with God. Even Jesus acknowledged there is only one Lord God. So, Jesus knew full well that by being called the son of God was the same as saying, “I am God.” And for saying this, they killed Him because they wanted to prove Him wrong.

In love,
Blake

[beenblake]

Dear Nick,

Quote

Your doctrine is that of “universalism” [Jesus died and thus all are saved!] Nonsense my friend. God requires repentance and a sign of your faith before angels and men.

You must have me mistaken with someone else, for this is not what I said. God does require repentance and a sign of faith. You must repent before Jesus and by calling out for Him to save you is a sign of your faith.

Luke 24:47 (NLT)
With my authority, take this message of repentance to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: 'There is forgiveness of sins for all who turn to me.'

These are the words of Christ. “There is forgiveness of sins for all who turn to me.” Have you asked Jesus to forgive your sins?

Let me ask you several questions, and maybe this will help me understand you better.

1) Do you believe Jesus is Lord?
2) In your own belief, what does it mean to be “reborn into the Son”?
3) What does it mean to be saved? How does a person enter Heaven?

Blake

[beenblake]

Quote

“son” is not a title. It is a statement of fact. It is a statement of origin. Adam is said to be a son of God. Was that just a title? Are all the sons spoken of in the bible only such by appointed title? When did the Son of God receive this bizarre empty title? Was in in recognition of his behaviours? It changes the meaning of the word 'son' to something unnatural and unbiblical. Why is this necessary? Do you not believe he actually is the Son of God? He said he was. Are we not all sons of our own fathers or are they just titles too?

The term “son of God” has two connotations. One is used to describe Adam and the angels. The other use describes Jesus.

Adam and the angels have been called the sons of God because they were the direct handiwork of God. This means they did not spawn from another being, but rather were created directly by the hand of God. Adam did not come from another human. He was created directly by God's hand.

Jesus, however, has been called the “only begotten son of God.” If Adam and the angels are sons of God, why is Jesus called the “only begotten son”? It means just what it says. The key word is here is “begotten.” Adam was created by God. Jesus was begotten of God. Jesus was not created by God. Jesus was brought forth from God. Jesus came from God.

As an artist, you can appreciate calling something you created a “son.” Many times artists will stand back from thier work and say, “These are my children.” The artist has expressed herself in the art in every way. Despite this, there is a significant difference from something you have created, and something you have begotten.

As a father, I am sure you can appreciate the word “begotten.” Your children, who are begotten of you, are not created. You did not sit down and design them how you liked. Rather, your children are “of” you. They have been brought forth from you.

Genesis 4:1 (NLT)
1 Now Adam slept with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant. When the time came, she gave birth to Cain, and she said, “With the LORD's help, I have brought forth a man!”

Notice she said, “brought forth.” Eve did not create a son, she brought forth a son. She gave birth to a son. This son was born of Adam.

Jesus is the “only begotten son of God.” Jesus is the only son who is born of God. Everything else was created by God.

Your son has been born of you. This means that your son shares in all that you are. Your son is an extension of you. When you witnessed His birth, did you not see yourself in Him? It was not until He was much older you began to see all the ways He is not you.

Jesus, on the other hand, represents His Father perfectly. Jesus is God. Adam was created in the image of God. Jesus is the image of God.

Hebrews 1:3a (NLT)
The Son reflects God's own glory, and everything about him represents God exactly.

Colossians 1:15 (NLT)
Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before God made anything at all and is supreme over all creation.

John 14:9 (NLT)
Jesus replied, “Philip, don't you even yet know who I am, even after all the time I have been with you? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking to see him?

Evenso, Jesus was also born of man. Jesus was born of Mary. Jesus is called the “Son of God” and the “Son of Man.” So which is it? Is Jesus born of God or born of man? Is Jesus God or is Jesus man?

Jesus is both. However, this is the great mystery of the Christian faith. How is it possible for God to come to earth, live as a man, die as a man, and then be resurrected into Heaven again? (1 Tim. 3:16)

Jesus knew that this was a great mystery. In fact, He used this mystery to confound the Pharisees.

Matthew 22:41-46 (NLT)
41 Then, surrounded by the Pharisees, Jesus asked them a question: 42 “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They replied, “He is the son of David.” 43 Jesus responded, “Then why does David, speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, call him Lord? For David said, 44 'The LORD said to my Lord, Sit in honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies beneath your feet.' 45 Since David called him Lord, how can he be his son at the same time?” 46 No one could answer him. And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Notice that Jesus asked, “Since David called him Lord, how can he be his son at the same time?” Jesus was asking, how could a man who was born of David, who was an offspring of David, also be the God of David?

How is that possible? That would be like you calling your son “Father.”

Jesus confirms that He is this very Messiah in the book of Revelation.

Revelation 22:16 (KJ)
I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

Notice He says “root” and “offspring.” Jesus says He is the root of David. This means that David branches off of Him. David draws life and sustenance from Jesus. And yet, Jesus is also the “offspring” of David. Jesus is a descendant, a son of David.

Jesus is God and man.

Philippians 2:5-8 (NLT)
5 Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. 6 Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. 7 He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. 8 And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal's death on a cross.

God came to earth as a man to reconcile and mediate between God and man. He suffered and died so that we may be saved. He did this for us. He did this because He loved us.

It is important to understand that it was God who mediated. We needed a mediator, because we were an enemy of God. We had defied Him, and made ourselves like a God. In order to reconcile this terrible situation, God came down to earth and mediated Himself. You must see and understand this, because it is important for you to realize that God loved us first. God made the first move. This my friend, is grace. God gave us grace. We did not have to clean up our act in order to be saved, in order to see Heaven. Instead, God gave us His son, His Holy one. He gave Himself to us, as an act of love, so that we might be saved.

Jesus suffered our punishment for us. We deserved eternal death. We are bad, horrible, and evil people who deserve to go to Hell. Every person on earth is bad. No one is good. And yet, despite this, Jesus died for us. God loved us first.

Through the death of Jesus, we have been reconciled. We have been made right with God. However, this can only happen through Jesus. It cannot happen any other way. If you want to be forgiven for your sins, you must turn to Jesus. It is Jesus who gave His life. It is Jesus who died. It is Jesus who will save you.

In my original statement, I said you must have faith. I could show you proof in the bible. I could explain it to you. However, you must have faith.

Jesus is God and Man. This is the great mystery of faith that confounds even the greatest philosophers. Who can grasp this? Who can fully understand how God could come to earth as a man and die for our sins? It doesn't make sense. It defies logic.

You must have faith. You must believe in Jesus. If you believed in Jesus, you would go to Him. You would seek Him out. You would ask Him for help.

A belief does not exist in the mind. You don't believe in things because people put up a good argument. You believe in things because you have experienced them. You know them by heart. Faith is not a matter of the mind. Faith is a matter of the heart. Why do
you think children have the greatest faith? They believe in things with thier heart.

Don't take my word for it. Don't believe in me. Pray to Jesus. Ask Jesus Himself if this is all true. Ask Jesus to help you. Ask the one who came from Heaven. Ask the one who has all the authority and power over Heaven and earth. Ask the one who will be your judge, the one that decides whether you enter Heaven or Hell. Ask Jesus to forgive and save you. Let Him show you the truth.

John 14:6 (NLT)
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

[beenblake]

Nick,

I am curious, do you believe Jesus is Lord?

Thanks,
Blake

[beenblake]

Dear Nick,

If you don't know Jesus then God is your enemy.

John 8:19 (NLT)
“Where is your father?” they asked. Jesus answered, “Since you don't know who I am, you don't know who my Father is. If you knew me, then you would know my Father, too.”

If you knew Jesus, then you would know God, for Jesus is God. However, if you don't know Jesus, then you don't know God.

Mt 28 18
” All authority HAS BEEN GIVEN to me in heaven and on earth”

You still do not yet understand. God came to earth as Jesus so that all who wish to worship and love God in truth may do so by faith. God exalted the name of Jesus above all names.

Jesus is a person. It is the true person of God. Until this time, God had stayed hidden from everyone. Even Moses could not see the full image of God without being blinded. God revealed Himself in Jesus. That is why it says, “All authority has been given…”

God is trying to tell you that Jesus Christ is God. Jesus has all the authority. If Jesus has all the authority, then why do you run from Him? Why do you not submit unto Christ?

John 4:23-24 (NLT)
But the time is coming and is already here when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for anyone who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.

You see, God wants you to worship Him in truth. What does that mean? True worship is an act of love. True worship comes from love. If God forced you to worship Him, then how could you? It would not be true. Love is a choice. You must have the freedom to make a choice. Through Jesus, you have that choice, because there is no solid proof that Jesus is God. You must believe by faith.

The bible says countless times that we are to only worship God.

You must only worship God. The ten commandments makes this clear, “You shall have no other God's before me.” This is pretty specific.

Matthew 4:10 (NASB)
Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, `YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.' ”

God wants you to worship Him alone and not any other God. However, how can you worship God, if you don't know Him? You could worship any God, so long as it fit the credentials of what God is. You could worship “the Father.” Well, who is the “Father” Have you met Him? You could worship Jehovah, but even He is impersonal. He always stayed at a distance. He never showed His face.

Jesus is a person. All who know Jesus, know God. And so, all who worship Jesus worship God in truth. God wants a relationship with people. He wants us to worship Him in love. Love is a relationship. How many people do you know that loved each other and didn't know each other? Love is intimate. Love is personal. God wants to be personal with us. And so, God came to earth as a person who is named Jesus. God established His person as a human. How could humans relate to some imaginary figure in the sky? How could we ever love that?

We, as humans, need something real. We needed God to come to earth as a man. We needed to see this man and know this man. Jesus, who is God, was a man. He was a real human being who faced all the trials and difficulties we have. This is a God we can worship. This God exists on our level.

God gave all His authority to Jesus. Don't you understand? God will not just give all His authority away. That's like saying, “God decided that He didn't want to be God anymore, and so He gave all His authority away.” Why would He do that? It doesn't make any sense.

God established Himself as a human being, as a real person on earth, and gave that identity, that person, all His authority. It is the same God. There is only one God. However, God established an identity among His people.

Countless times in the bible, people worshipped at the feet of Jesus. Why would Jesus not stop these people? Why did He not stop Mary when she wash his feet with her hair? She worshipped him as God? This is the biggest sin of all. This is blasphemy. And yet, Jesus allowed it. God does not share His worship with anyone. And so, if you say Jesus is not God, then you are calling Jesus a lair. For Jesus let people worship Him.

Revelations 5:14 (NLT)
And the four living beings said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped God and the Lamb.

In this verse, they worshipped both God and the Lamb. How can this be? Jesus said we should only worship God. And yet, they worshipped Jesus in this scripture. So wait, are there two Gods? Or is there one?

Psalms 2:11-12 (NASB)
11 Worship the LORD with reverence And rejoice with trembling.
12 Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish {in} the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!

Worship and homage are the same thing. In fact, to pay homage is the highest act of worship one can give. It means “to bow down, prostrate oneself.” To prostrate oneself is to lie completely flat against the ground. It means you are giving your all, everything. This scripture is saying that we should give everything to Jesus.

And what happens if we don't give everything to Jesus? We will perish.

Matthew 10:38-39 (NLT)
If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. 39 If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give it up for me, you will find it”

If you don't give up your life to Jesus and submit unto Him, then you will lose your life. You will die. You will not be given eternal life, for eternal life only comes through Jesus. You must believe in Jesus.

What did Jesus do on the cross? He gave His life for us. He died for us. He redeemed us. This means that He bought you at a price. Jesus redeemed you. He bought you. He owns you. Jesus owns you. Let me say this again, Jesus owns you.

In Romans 6:23, it says the wages of sin is death. When people commit a sin, they earn the punishment of death. Workers earn what they recieve. (Romans 4:4). This means that you own a huge debt. You have sinned (Romans 3:23). We all have sinned. I have sinned too. We owe a huge debt. How are you going to pay it?

Well, you can pay this debt by working it off. You work it off by trying to do good things. For every good deed you do, you pay off your debt a little. And slowly, you work your way to goodness. You keep doing this, hoping, that when the day of judgement comes, you can show God how good you have been. And so, you will sit in a huge court proceeding with Jesus as your lawyer. This is wrong!!

Read the rest of Romans 6:23….

Romans 6:23 (NLT)
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

It says, “free gift.” It is free. You can't earn it. You cannot earn a free gift. There is nothing you can do in this world to earn eternal life. It doesn't matter how hard you work, the gift is free. So what do you do with gifts?? When you give gifts to your children, what do you want them to do? You want them to accept them. All you have to do is accept it. Accept this free gift. We call it grace. “Amazing grace, how sweet it is.”

Jesus died for you. You deserved to die. And yet, Jesus who bore no sin, who was perfect in every way, took your sins. He paid off your debts. He went to your debtors and paid them off. By doing this, He bought you. He bought you at a steep price. Jesus owns you.

However, Jesus cannot force His grace on you. He cannot force you to believe in Him. All He can do is plead with you, “Will you be mine?”

Well, will you? Will you be His?? Will you give up your li
fe to Jesus? Will you pay homage to your King? Will you bow down to the son of God and worship Him? Will you make Jesus your Lord?

[beenblake]

Dear Nick,

Quote

Hi bb, So in the trial of Jesus Christ he agreed he was “The Messiah” and “The Son of the Blessed God” So how can this mean to you he is saying he is God Himself? That's crazy. He even said they would see him “Standing at God's right hand in the place of power” and “Coming back on the clouds of heaven”

It is not as crazy as you think. It is the truth. How can God be omniscient? How can He be every where at once? He is God. He can do all things and more.

This is not something I can force upon you, and I do not wish to force it on you. This is something you must believe. It is a matter of faith.

Jesus came to earth as a man. And yet, Jesus was also God. While Jesus was on earth, He had all the authority and power of God because He was God. And yet He was a man.

This is important. I know you believe Jesus was a man. You have the first half of the gospel. However, you will not be saved unless you accept Him as Lord. You must accept Him as being greater than you, as being God.

Why? How can Jesus save you unless you call out to Him? How can Jesus forgive you for your sins unless you ask Him to forgive you? How can you be born again, unless you believe in Jesus?

You cannot be saved unless you pray to Jesus. And once you do, the Lord will reveal to you the truth.

I tell you these things because I used to be just like you. I fought against so many people about the trinity. I refused to believe and accept it. I was raised one of Jehovah's Witnesses and for so many years they lied to me. They told me that Jehovah is God, when in fact the word “Jehovah” is an adjective and not a noun. The word “Jehovah” is used in connection with the word “God” which means that it describes God. Jehovah is not the name of God. We say, “Jehovah God” because we are saying, “Almighty God.” If it were the name of God then it would stand alone. There was so many lies that they told me, but Jesus told me the truth. Not any person or religion. It was Jesus who told me the truth.

Jesus came down from Heaven and saved me. Yes, indeed, I am born again. I know that I am, not because of what the bible says. I know Jesus personally. I have met Him. His Spirit lives inside me. I shared with you my testimony.

You do not have to believe me. I don