For every high priest is ordained
to offer gifts and sacrifices:
wherefore it is of necessity that
that this man have somewhat
also to offer. For if he were on
earth, he should not be a priest,
seeing that there are priests that
offer gifts according to the law:
who serve unto the example and
shadow of heavenly things, as
Moses was admonished of God when
he was about to make the tabernacle:
for, See, saith He, that thou make
all things according to the pattern
shewed to thee in the mount.
Hebrews 8:3-5
Those things recorded in the Old Testament were examples and shadows of heavenly things and shadows point to the reality, and examples give understanding to the reality. The writer of Hebrews is doing just that: he is using the examples and shadows in the Old Testament to reveal the reality. The reality revealed is Jesus Christ, that He is the reality of the previous recorded examples and shadows, so now we can see and understand that this One, Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the Savior promised by God from the the fall of Adam. We can have sure faith, not blind faith. Jesus proved to be the Savior can only be the true Savior if He is God for only God can forgive sins and only God can ensure our salvation and this He did by sending His Wisdom to earth to become man, the Son of God in the flesh. This leads us to the Trinity if we are to say that Jesus is God and that the Holy Spirit is God, all of the same essence or substance, not separate but the Godhead, with each Person having a function in the role of God to save man. But, Christianity is not the only religion that has a Trinity.
The ancient world with the various religions have as their base a Triad and is expressed mostly in a philosophical approach, meaning, a rational or sensibly calm acceptable manner and can be found in such beliefs as the pantheistic theory, (a theory that has become acceptable to many) a theory that God is the transcendental reality of which the material world and humanity are only manifestations. This has been the underlying theorem that was accepted by many of the ancient religions and is also the theorem for many non-Christian religions even today. This can be confusing to honest seeking men and women who are being deceived, or misled by false teaching. It is important then to have a basic, or at least, an understanding of or various religious beliefs that find opposition with the Orthodox Christian Trinitarians, in other words, the Trinity as taught in the Bible.
The Hindu religion and beliefs are difficult to define although this religion in its various sects, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism, better defined as a way of life has in its Triad an undeveloped god, Brahm. This primal being is without consciousness or attributes, a formless transcendental immanent divine and one of three gods: Brahm, Vishnu, and Shiva. Hinduism is polytheistic for it allows all people to have their own god, but in actuallity it is monotheistic for only Brahma is the sole god, the chief of all gods.
Buddhism, formed from Hinduism although it does not practice a Triad as such for in Buddhism the spiritual principle is that that soul of man is part, or an existence-form, much like the Mormons that teach that the soul existed forever and is only planted into a human body, and is of the same spiritual essence as God as do the Buddhist. The Buddhist believe that at death you enter into a realm of nothingness determined in Buddhism to be at one or in the same essence as god. Buddhism has moved slightly away from Hinduism and while not teaching a Triad do have the same foundational beliefs.
The Greeks held to a god that was unknown as Paul addressed this fact with them, yet it goes farther back in the formation of their religious beliefs. Plato, a classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, and a student of Socrates helped to lay the foundation of Western philosphy and science. Within Platoism we find the notion of a Trinity. Neo-Platonism, taught in Alexandria, while somewhat different from what Plato taught still held to the belief that knowledge is innate and ideas are buried in the soul. Plato believed that the soul existed before birth (a theological position that can be found in the doctrine of the Mormon's) and had the form of the "Good," as well as the knowledge of everything and you only recall things when something can be learned. He held to a theory of dualism, and it is to be found not only in today's universities and schools, also in some Churches leading the congregant to a belief separate from the Bible's teaching on man and the Trinity. The teaching of Aristotle a student of Plato infiltrated the early Church and some early Church fathers, and today, much of his theories have found their way into many so-called Christian Churches and have enslaved many to believe in a lie propounded by men whose god, or gods are not of Christian Biblical truth.
The early Christians had to fight this fight against false religious teachings, such as the Gnostics, Nestorism, neo-Platonism, and Platonism, and more, and we today must stand firm against false religious teachings. Not much has changed, only who and how those false teachings are being perpetrated upon Authentic Christians.
The writer of Hebrews is first in his book laying the truth about who Jesus is and why He came to earth, proof that is undeniable unless a person just does not want to believe. Your faith can mature and you can grow in your relationship with Jesus, but only if you study and meditate and pray and allow the Holy Spirit to guide you. Examine, inspect what you expect, and you will find the truth.
I will mention the lovingkindnesses
of the LORD, according to all that
the LORD hath bestowed on us, and
the great goodness toward the
house of Israel, which He hath
bestowed upon them according to
His mercies, and according to the
multitude of His lovingkindnesses.
For He said, "Surely they are my people,
children that will not lie: so He
was their Saviour.
Isaiah 63:7-8
Sanctify your sanctification
Richard L. Crumb
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