If indeed you have heard Him
and have been taught by Him,
as the truth is in Jesus:
that you put off, concerning
your former conduct,
the old man which grows
corrupt according to
the deceitful lusts,
and be renewed in the
spirit of your mind,
and that you put on
the new man which was
created according to God,
in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:21-24
Have you forgotten? Do you live as though you are not your own? Is it the truth you desire? Or, do you just want your ears to be tickled? Do you believe that the Bible is God's word? Or do you only believe that the original manuscripts are inerrant, and not the manuscripts that we have today? In other words, do you believe that God would not allow His word to not be preserved even if man attempts to change it according to their theologies, and/or ideologies? Paul wrote to the Corinthians who had allowed corruption to enter into their worship of God and had forgotten that as Christians we do not live for ourselves for we were: "for you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's" (1Corinthians 6:20). Peter adds to this fact: "but there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction' (2Peter 2:1). This is why there is a need to speak frankly, to speak clearly, to use the word of God as it is written, so that there is not excuse for not knowing what God has revealed to His children, the ones He paid for by sending His Son to die for them. We are not our own, we then should be living not as the world, rather as Christians. Remember the word Christian is form by adding to Christ the ending "ian" that means "little ones" or similar ones, so that a Christian is a little Christ, and this is true for we do not belong to ourselves but to God. How serious is this that we are learning? Very serious for God will not and cannot go back on His word, and this in regard to death so that we could have eternal life. God could not falsify Himself! What was God to do? Was God to demand repentance from men for their transgressions? You might think that all that is necessary is repentance, as though this would be worthy of God to just accept our repentance. As is taught by some Churches that by the transgression men became subject to corruption, so then by repentance they return to incorruption. But repentance would not protect the consistency of God, for if death does hold dominion over men, and if God did not account for sin, God then would be untrue. We know this, repentance is no guarantee that we will not sin, our nature is sinful, we did inherit sin, and by sin we are corrupt, so if we repent the best that we can say is that repentance may keep us from sinning, but has not removed our nature that is corrupt, sin. If our sin had only been a trespass only, and it is a trespass but not the only reason that we are sinful, but a trespass because we are corrupt, repentance then from that trespass would be all that is needed, but when transgression had begun in man, man came under the power of corruption which is now proper to their/our nature and no grace belonged to them as creatures made in the image of God. No! Repentance could not meet the need, the case; so what should be done? How then could man have his transgression, his trespasses removed? It was by God sending His very Wisdom to become incarnate in human flesh to die upon the cross, a perfect man who then could be the propiation for sin of man, and this He did and by doing so bought man, and His death was for all that God had determined to be saved and to become His child. You know you are His child if God has become first in your life. This change, this becoming a new creature, a new creation, and now no longer are you yourself as you were as old creature, you then live, desire to live, make the changes to live, as one of His children. This will require a change in our thinking a change in our living, and the world would then and does notice that something is different about you. Look back on the martyrs and the writing by men of old, and you will see that Christian were persecuted because they did not live, worship other gods, and were different because they lived according to the principles as set forth by God, and by His Son, and were lead by the Holy Spirit.
This then begs the question: Are you willing to make the necessary changes when you come to know that what you are under is not of God? While studying for these blogs I came to realize that I was influenced greatly by those men who had secretly infiltrated the school, the Church, and into the very thinking of others. Yes, as a sinner, having the nature of sin then I have no excuse for my sin, I leaned towards sinful things, things that seem to make some sense when I measured what is being taught with the principles of this world. We must become identified with Jesus Christ, and this we can do because He bought us with a price, and has sent to us the Holy Spirit to guide us, and has given to us His preserved word. But we must read it with examining eyes, and be willing to make the necessary changes. If we don't then another question arises: Have you been bought with a price? Are you a Christian? Or, do you just enjoy those good sounding messages that tickle your ears? Men such as Polycarp, Ireneaus , Ignatius, Athanasius, Knox, Calvin, Whitfield, and others were not; just read Foxe's book of martyrs and you will see that people of all ages were not willing to just accept, rather they were willing to put their very lives on the line and not disown God, Jesus Christ. I ask myself, am I willing to die for my faith when confronted by those who in many ways want to destroy the faith, the doctrines that were once given? We must become aware of such men who attempt in every way to bring destruction upon God's children, it is Satan, it is Satanic, and if we are not studying and examining then we will succumb, due to our sinfulness, or very nature not yet fully sanctified to their teachings: "For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. While the promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage" (2Peter 2:18-19).
Having said all this I wonder, how has history affected me, and what am I willing to do about those things that are not Biblical, or am I just listening to men who are places of authority and I am to take them just at their word? No! We need to have men who are willing to be true leaders, to lead their families, to lead the Church, and to have the true knowledge as given in the Bible, and to use a Bible that is not translated from manuscripts that are corrupt, no matter what others may say, those who publish a Bible for money, and promote them so that they can tickle the ears of those desiring that something more, not willing to use what is and has been the preserved word of God. Do we have true men, who wield the authority given to them by God, in true love, "agape" love, a principled love, knowing that they have been given this authority by God. As a woman are you willing to yield to the words of God, and be under the authority as outlined in the Bible or are you more willing to succumb to the secular definition of what a woman is suppose to be. This succumbing to the ideas of the world affects not only women, but men, and children. Who is your authority? God or man? The world will not understand or approve! Who cares? If God has not called them, given them the faith to believe upon Him, they are the very ones that will be thrown into Gehenna, the Lake of Fire; so why listen to them?
These are strong words! Jesus did not hold back when he addressed wrongful ideas, those ideas of what it meant to be a "good" Jew. He called them vipers, snakes, to their faces, He did not hold back, and He taught His disciples to speak the truth, in love, but not to shrink back from the truth. We have the examples, so that as we live our life, we live it according to the Scriptures. It is our lives, living for God that will be a witness to the truth. It is the truth that we must portray, live, and even die by; we as Christian, little Christs, have a hope, a secure and faithful hope, that we will live eternally with Him, in a world prepared for the Children of God; therefore live your life according to that truth. This is said to me as to anyone who might read this blog.
that you may be mindful
of the words which
were spoken before by
the holy prophets,
and of the commandment
of us, the apostles of
the Lord and Savior...
2Peter 3:2
Grow in the Grace and Knowledge Of Our Savior
Richard L. Crumb
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