When I shall send Artemas unto thee,
or Tychicus, be diligent to come unto
me to Nicopolis: for I have determined
there to winter. Bring Zenas the lawyer
and Apollos on their journey diligently,
that nothing be wanting unto them.
And let ours also learn to maintain
good works for necessary uses, that
they be non unfruitful. all that are with
me salute thee. Greet them that love us
in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen.
Titus 3:12-15
We have come to the end of the letter from Paul to Titus and we have come to learn that the Gospel never changes, the admonitions are the same in every letter. Faith in the word of God, the Gospel is foremost presented for people who desire to be an Authentic Christian to have and to follow. Faith is found in the New Testament many times: i.e., to have faith in is used 248 times, Faith is used 244 times, and trustworthy 67 times, therefore faith should have a priority in an Authentic Christian life to have Authentic Christian Faith. "But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6)
The truth of faith. Faith is that whereby we believe one almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, True Trinity, true Unity. Genuine Trinity, not a trinity as found in Hinduism (Brahma, Vishnu, Shema, separate gods), but genuine Trinity wherein none is born of Himself, not proceeds from Himself, but one from another. The Son is begotten of the Father, the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. Without doubt there is One who has begotten, another who has been begotten, another who proceeds from both. This Unity is genuine wherein there is not one Spirit of the Father, another of the Son, but one of both! Nor does He proceed first from the Father into the Son, then from the Son to diffuse the gift of charity into the Son, then from the Son to diffuse the gift to charity into the hearts of believers, but at once from both. There is not one Godhead of the Father, another of the Son, another of the Holy Spirit, but one Godhead of the three; and for that reason truly one God. If each were separate, one from another, it would not be one, then this Trinity would be the same as the trinity of the Hindus. Also, the Son would not necessarily be God, rather a god as the Jehovah Witnesses teach. There is one Godhead, one eternal, one majesty, one mightiness, one will, one activity, one affection, one glory. There is distinctly one Person and another Person, therefore the Trinity: but since there is not one thing and another, there is Unity. Because the Son is not Himself the Father,nor is He who is the Father Himself the Son or the Holy Spirit, therefore a genuine Trinity, yet because what the Son is the Father is and what the Father and the Spirit are the Son is, therefore genuine Trinity.
Neither the power nor the will of the Father preceded the birth of the Son. so there was nothing to precede the procession of the Holy Spirit. We acknowledge the Father as the begetter of the Son; moreover, as maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible. We acknowledge the Son as only begotten of the Father, God of God, light of light, very God of very God, begotten not made, homoousios with the Faither, that is, of the same substance with the Father, by whom were made all things in heaven and on earth, through whom the angels praise the Father's majesty, whom the dominions worship, and before whom all the powers, of heaven, and virtues of the heavens tremble. We acknowledge the Holy Spirit as the life giver, proceeding from the Father and the Son, with the Father and the Son together to be worshiped and glorified, who spoke through the prophets. We acknowledge the Three together as giving grace, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, undivided without confusion, everlasting without time, equal without difference; one Lord, great and praiseworthy beyond degree, of whom greatness there is no end and of whose wisdom there is no measure; great indeed, not in size but in worthiness; who, while He is nowhere by mass of body, is nowhere absent by uncircumscribed substance.
This truth is the very foundation of Authentic Christianity. Faith stands upon this truth, a truth revealed to man by God. By faith we believe and convert to God and this conversion is to live by the commands and admonitions given to us by God. Read, speak out loud, the Apostle's Creed, the Athanasius Creed, regularly for by this you are proclaiming this foundational truth.
Paul in his letters written to Christians were not suggestions, follow or in some way follow, or by some doctrines that he had not taught, no his words are inspired by God to reveal His will for His children. If you are one of His children, then: "Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these thing, ye shall never fall" (2Peter 2:10).
What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.
In God I will praise His word, in God I
have put my trust; I will not fear what
flesh can do unto me.
Psalm 56:3-4
Live Authentic Christian Faith
Richard L. Crumb
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