Building Upon Our Faith

And when He had spoken 

these things, He was taken up

and a cloud received Him out

of their sight. And while they 

looked steadfastly as He 

went up, behold, two men

stood by them in white 

apparel; which also said,

Ye men of Galilee, why stand

ye gazing up into heaven? 

This same Jesus, which is taken 

up from you into heaven, shall 

so come in like manner as ye

have sen Him go into heaven.

Acts 1:9-11

     The Gospel is that God sent His Son to die upon the cross for the sin of the world: "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). Notice this: the word is "sin" not "sins" of the world, it is this inherited sin from Adam that needed to be done away with and until that would be accomplished the "sins," plural, your sins could not be atoned. Furthermore, Jesus had to rise from the dead and then ascend into heaven bodily, and present that perfect sinless body, man, to the Father as payment for sin, and God the Father applies that now satisfied debt to one who believes on Jesus Christ and converts to Jesus Christ. This is the Gospel and more to it is necessarily for our faith to be complete and that is Jesus is coming again and this time to end all the sin of the world, the sins of all people and to judge the living and the dead: "And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever" (Revelation 5:13). This day of judgment is to be feared: "And the kings of earth, and the great men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free men, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains; and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne,and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand" (Revelation 6: 15-17)?

     After this has been accomplished, all the elect from out of all nations, tribes, people, and tongues shall be standing before the throne in the presence of the Lamb, clothed in white garments and with palms in their hands crying: "And cried with a loud voice, saying, 'Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb" (Revelation 7:10). Once again Jesus is conjoined by the Greek grammar to be God, and God to be the Lamb, both in Unity, both of the same substance for after the word God, there is a comma, and then the word "Lamb." The Lamb is said to be sitting on the throne and God is said to be sitting on the throne, God is said to be our salvation and Jesus is said to be our salvation, it is before the throne we stand and upon that throne is the Unity of the Trinity, for God is there and Jesus is there, not as separate beings, rather as One. The angels worshiped God, the elders worshiped God, the One upon the throne. Jesus is God, not a god, and Jesus is worshiped as God, not as a god. The Greek grammar is clear, that when God is mentioned and then Jesus the two and both on the throne then both are the same, equal in all ways and this cannot be construed any other way unless there is an attempt to misuse the Greek grammar. 

    Faith, true faith is what I am writing about, and it requires faith to believe what is written about God, Jesus, and the future. It takes faith because we cannot see God, Jesus and we cannot discern the future (We can speculate, but not know the future), so then, faith is required but not blind faith, faith upon what has been revealed so that we are not left ignorant, we have sure founded faith from Scripture. Therefore, if the Scripture we are reading, or if someone is preaching and teaching that which is not consistent with truth then we will not have a faith built upon a sure foundation. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17), so then for faith to be manifested in our lives it must come by way of Scripture rightly exegeted and taught. 

    True faith is one whereby you and I get to know the universal sovereignty of Jesus Christ, and this means to get to know Him personally, how to get alone with Him, to take time to worship Him. Do you not bear His name? Scripture gives us what to expect from God, from Jesus Christ, how that the future of eternal life will not be as here now on earth for there there will be no crying, no pain, no hunger, and no thirst for you will be with Jesus from which flows springs of living water (Revelation 7:14-17). Joy should flood your soul, your very being because of all what God has promised you and this you can add to you faith. 

O my God, incline thine ear,

     and hear; open thine eyes,

and behold our desolations, and

    the city which is called by they

name: for we do not present our

    supplications before thee for 

our righteousness, but for thy

    great mercies.

                     Daniel 9:18

Grow in your faith: take time for God

Richard L. Crumb  

Who Is This Only Begotten Son Of God?

The former treatise have I made,

O Theophilus,or all that Jesus

began both to do and teach,

until the day in which He was 

taken up, after that through

the Holy Spirit: had given 

commandments unto the

apostles whom He had 

chosen.

Acts 1:1-3

     God, in order to have His justice satisfied, sent into this world His Wisdom to live and die as a man, His Only Begotten Son. To have His justice satisfied, paid, this debt owed to Him by man God would have to do that which would accomplish this payment. Would God send an angel? Would God create a being just so that this debt would be paid? What would be the requirements to meet this debt equally so that it would be accepted upon payment? To give to an angel this work is not to have absolute confidence that this angel would do this work and not become as did Satan: angles have volition, a will, and the ability to choose and might choose against the will of God so that His justice would be satisfied. To create a being, as some teach, to be the Savior is to create a being without volition, a will, and to be more as a puppet and this would not meet the requirements for payment. What is needed is for true salvation and only God can give true salvation due to the fact that God is Good, Merciful, Loving, and His will is to have a people who are devoted to Him by their volition and will. Furthermore, it was a man, Adam, who sinned, therefore, the other requirement was that the Savior had to be fully man. 

     God accomplished these requirements by Himself sending His Wisdom to be born of a woman, and He placed His Wisdom into Her so that that which would be born would be fully man, have all that man has in his creation. Jesus Christ is the Only Begotten Son of God for God is His Father, no other creation can say that they are Only Begotten of God. God use dirt to make man, the dust of the ground, and He did not put Himself into man, therefore man is made by God, but not the Only Begotten of God. God did put into man that which no other creation can say, His Spirit, this life giving entity that speaks to man's soul so that man can live for God. This did not take away man's volition to choose for man was not made a puppet, but fully man. Adam sinned, therefore, this Man, this Only Begotten Son as man must live this life and not sin and by this then the propitiation for sin is valid and acceptable to God the Father. 

     Our one Lord Jesus Christ, true God and true man, came therefore to the Passion, His death upon the cross to fulfill all that had been written about Him, foretold in Scripture. Jesus Christ live a sinless life although this life was not separate from all the circumstances of life, persecution, tiredness from walking, speaking, long arduous hours, then having to be arrested, not from doing wrong, but because the religious leaders hated Him and wanted Him gone. Jesus was upsetting their "apple cart," and they wanted Him gone. So as an innocent man He was arrested beaten, scourged, mocked, and then hung upon the cross along with two other sinful men as though He too was sinful. 

     What the Jewish priests did know was that it was Jesus who had come to die, and die as a sinless man, and it He who allowed this to happen: furthermore, Jesus was not allowing this, He would raise Himself up from the grave by His own power and then would ascend into heaven presenting this propitiation to God the Father and sit at His right hand and then come again for His bride. On that cross Jesus shouted this most famous of all statements: "When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, It is finished: and He bowed His head, and gave up the spirit" (John 19:30). What was finished? The payment for our debt was not paid: but more was done, all that which was written to be done in the Old Jewish covenant was now eliminated for now the New Covenant established by Jesus is what is now required to be  a son or daughter of God. The New Covenant did not obliterate the Covenant made by God with Abraham, nor did it remove the Ten Commandments written by God, but it did remove the old system of certain feasts, and things to do when they came to the temple, and other requirements that were written so that His chosen people, the Hebrews, would live according to His will. Now we have the commandments of Jesus Christ and when examined we find that they meet the Abraham Covenant and the Ten Commandments, and then how to live out those commandments. We do not live as some teach, especially the Seventh Day Adventist who believe that not all the old requirements of the Old Testament are still in force, forget Jesus came and those requirements are finished and His new Covenant is not in force. 

     True, Authentic Christian Faith is a faith based upon this truth about Jesus Christ and His commandments. Authentic Christians live in this world until death or the return of Jesus Christ for His bride and even enjoy what God has created, but do so without violating the commandments of God. Jesus Christ is the Only Begotten Son of God, and is the Second Person of the Trinity, along with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one Godhead, all the same substance and this we can rest our faith upon. The question is: Will you do it? 

Then I said unto them, 

     Cast ye away every man

the abomination of his eyes,

     and defile not yourselves

with idols of Egypt: I am the 

    LORD your God.

                      Ezekiel 20:7

By your volition: Live for God

Richard L. Crumb

Growing Our Faith In the Unseen And Hard To Know

I beheld till the thrones were cast down,

and the Ancient of days did sit, whose

garment was white as snow, and the

hair of His head like the pure wool:

His throne was like the fiery flame,

and His wheels as burning fire.

A fiery stream issued and came forth

from before Him: thousands thousands

ministered unto Him, and ten thousands

times ten thousands stood before Him: 

the judgment was set, and the books opened.

 Daniel 7:9-10

     Faith has as its foundation tenent to believe in the unseen, or in that which is hard to know. God, the Trinity, is of that nature, unseen, hard to know, furthermore, there is in Scripture other creatures who are called angels, and are also unseen as they are spirit beings: therefore faith, if it is Authentic Christian Faith must also believe that there are angels; albeit unseen. Unseen is one thing, for something to be hard to know is another thing, yet, although hard to know or understand what is needed is proof that it is possible for the unseen to be known and this is done by the revelation in Scripture inspired by God so that we can know even if we cannot see. Is it hard to believe that God who created all things seen and unseen did create both? The apostle Paul reveals this: "for by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and by Him all things consist" (Colossians 1:16). To have faith in God who is unseen and revealed in Scripture that He exists, is the creator, and is the Godhead consisting of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit warrants our belief in angels and all that is revealed about them. 

     The narrative of Job a man revealed to us in the book of Job has been of some consternation to many, a hard to believe or understand narrative. God is revealed, Satan is revealed and what occurred to Job is revealed. Job is the pinnacle of faith for in all that occurred which we know was difficult, yet there is and has been something of lessor account that has caused some to forego their faith because they did not understand or have faith that God is in control even in hard times. As with Job our faith is in God, our trust is in God so that in any circumstances of life our faith is not shaken, destroyed. This is true faith. Let is examine this narrative.

     Job was apparently a holy man and was enviable, enviable by Satan the prince that left along with other angels their position and life with God who had created them. He desired to make Job proof that he was able to turn man from believing in God. Satan desired that Job to be surrendered to him by the Lord, not for the purpose of testing what was done by means of Satan while Job was unwilling, no, but to condemn what Satan sought in abundance of his own malice. Satan was aflame with envy because of Job's faith, this same flame of envy and desire to be worshiped instead of God being worshiped when he approached Adam and Eve, the first man who was made holy, well and good by our Good God, who then beguiled Adam, made him a liar, and subjected him to every manner of corruption, and by this man inherited this corruption of his soul and by this heredity pass this corrupt heredity to all of his progeny. Satan dragged Adam to become his companion, and dragged him from angelic light and subdued him to his own darkness, rendering him liable to eternal death and that liability was passed down to all mankind. By this narrative we can see that there are unseen creatures, angels, and the one angel Satan who is the ringleader for all those angels who follow him, the results of their life, and how they have affected the seen world. But we see more from this narrative.

     Man fell, due to believing the lie of Satan, a wound so great, a wound that seem that it could not be healed. So how can this wound be repaired? An angel could not repair this wound, man cannot repair this wound, a wound so great that only God is able to repair it. This God did by sending His wisdom to earth, His Only Begotten Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, God the word (John 1:1) to become flesh, meaning to become true man and to dwell among us in perfect humanity, that which He assumed for us from us, that is, from the Virgin Mary prepared and preserved for this purpose, to heal this great wound. The Only Begotten Son of God came to dwell corporeally, not spiritually, as with man who dwells now spiritually with God, and this only by means of the gift of grace, as it is written: "He who is united to the Lord is one spirit" (1Corinthians 6:17). Although we are united in spirit with God does not mean or come to pass that we are gods by nature. In Jesus Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, so that He is God in very substance. The humanity that Jesus undertook can be nothing other than God and the unique Son, since the Only Begotten became flesh in order to be true God, true man, one God. Although flesh is one thing and deity another, Jesus is not one person in the flesh, another in the Godhead, but one Christ in both, God-man, the reality and integrity of each nature remaining. Humanity was not changed into divinity, nor divinity converted into humanity. One Christ of both is thus God and is worshiped with the Father and the Son, just as He was worshiped before the Word was made flesh. For unchangeable Deity, who in His incarnation took our infirmity that He might die, could be neither diminished nor increased. 

     We must not allow ourselves to be led into error as was Adam by Satan, such as the error of Spanish Adoptionism that Jesus  was adopted as God's son either at His baptism, His resurrection,or His ascension. This doctrine came about because there were some, the Ebionites, who believed Jesus was adopted because of His sinless devotion to the will of God. This is a non-trinitarian doctrine and was declared heresy at the end of the 2nd century and rejected by the First Council of Nicaea and defined the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity and identified the man Jesus with the eternal begotten Son or Word of God. 

     Do not confuse Spanish Adoptionism with Christian Adoption theology. Christian adoption is the admission of a believer into the family of god. Adoption is a legal term by which a person is legally placed with a parent(s). there are three references in the New Testament to god adopting Christians as His own children (Galatians 4:5; Romans 8:15; Ephesians 1:5; and one reference to the adoption be god ,or the people of Israel (Romans 9:4). Adoption was an important feature of Reformation theology as demonstrated by article 12 of the Westminster Confession of Faith. 

     The truth of faith is being investigated, examined, so that we can ensure that what we believe, what we have faith in is true Authentic Christian Faith, a faith tested by men of old, and by men of this present age. Our faith then by this investigation and examination become solid, firm, and unchangeable.

Turn you at my reproof:

    behold, I will pour out

My spirit unto you, I will

    make known My words 

unto you.

                   Proverbs 1:23

 Call, seek, God and He will be found

Richard L. Crumb