MY FOUNDATION AND STATEMENT OF FAITH
I believe that I am justified (saved) by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. If salvation was possible through the Law, then there would have been no need for Christ's crucifixion. I didn't obtain salvation by works, so therefore, I don't keep it or maintain it by works. No one earns salvation, nor can anyone earn it. It is a gift from God.
Jesus said that the work of God is to believe in the One whom God sent, Jesus. I believe, and through my believing, God works through me and in me. Works are a natural part of a life of faith. That is why faith without works is dead. Faith without works naturally flowing out of it is dead faith.
I believe that I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. My righteousness before salvation was as filthy rags, so when I came to Jesus, we traded. My righteousness was placed on Him on the cross, and I then took on His righteousness.
I believe that the wrath of God for me was fully satisfied in the death of Jesus. There is no wrath left for me. The only thing that God wants to pour out on me and all of humanity is love.
I don't believe that God brings natural disasters to destroy cities anymore unless it is specified in Prophecy in the Word of God. Every time God brought judgment to a city in the Old Testament, there were certain things that would be done which would be His signature on it. He would warn all of the Righteous before hand so that they could escape the wrath to come. He would then bring a disaster of such cataclysmic proportions that would completely destroy everything down to nothing and wipe out everyone left in the city. The destruction would be complete and there would be no way to rebuild because nothing would be left. The whole purpose of God destroying a city was to rid the world of the city's sinful depravity and those committing it. Look at Sodom and Gomorra. Look at Noah and the Flood. When God brought destruction, there was no question who brought it. Now, look at New Orleans with Hurricane Katrina. Were all of the Righteous in the city warned before hand of the supposed wrath to come? No. Was New Orleans completely destroyed by Katrina? No. Were all of the unrighteous destroyed by Katrina? No. Was the sinful depravity removed? No. It increased! If Katrina was from God, then there would have been nothing left to loot. There would have been no one left to commence in looting and other contemptible things. There would have been no one and nothing left to save. There would be no city to rebuild, and the righteous would have headed a warning by God and would have fled inland to escape the destruction. None of that happened. Katrina was not from God. It had someone else's signature on it. I do, however, believe that God sticks to His promise to Abraham that He would bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel. That theme is found throughout the Book of Revelation with the destruction that is brought upon the Beast Kingdoms and the Whore of Babylon.
I believe that Christ did not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it. The Law required punishment for sin. The Law required a spotless and blameless sacrifice. If Christ had come to abolish the Law, then no punishment for sins and no sacrifice would have been needed. Christ came in the flesh and obeyed the law completely from birth to death on the cross. He was a spotless and blameless sacrifice. Christ fulfilled the law by taking our sin upon Himself. Every single prophecy and law concerning the Messiah becoming the eternal sacrifice for our sins was completely fulfilled in Christ's life and death and resurrection. Yes, Christ did come to fulfill the law, and He did. That is the context of that scripture.
Why did he fulfill the Law? Because he could not initiate a new and better covenant with His people while the old covenant was not kept by those same people. That is why He came in the flesh. The Father could not enter into a new covenant with us until we fulfilled the Old covenant. It was not possible for us to fulfill the Old Covenant, so Christ came in the flesh and fulfilled it for us. The Father went into covenant with the Son of Man and now we partake of the new covenant by faith. That is why the Word says that when we are faithless, He remains faithful because He cannot disown Himself. We are not Covenant makers. We are Covenant Partakers.
Here are some benefits of The New Covenant. Christ kept the Law written on stone, and now the Holy Spirit has enscribed the Law on our hearts. Christ took our unrighteousness, and we are now clothed in righteousness. Christ became sin, now we are free from sin. Christ experienced separation from the Father, now nothing can separate us from the Love of Christ. Christ took upon Himself God's wrath, now we are free from God's wrath. Christ went down to hell, now we are free from the threat of hell. We are now crucified with Christ. We are dead to sin and alive to Christ. We no longer live, but Christ lives through us. Now we have the Mind of Christ working in us. Now, the Holy Spirit abides in us and we walk in power and authority. Now, Christ is purifying our desires. Now we are alive in the Spirit. Now, we don't have to strive to keep the commandments that Jesus summed up as, "Love the Lord with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself" because the love of Christ dwells in out hearts. The more we come to know Christ, the more we express His love and keep the commandments. None of these benefits were available in the old testament and in the Law of Moses.
Let me make something clear. What I am NOT is one who believes that freedom in Christ means freedom in sin. Christ died to restore relationship, not to give you a blank sin check to fill out. I believe that the wages of sin is death, even for believers. Death to hopes and dreams. Death to purpose. Death to marriage. Death to relationships. Death to nations. Death to cultures. Death to all it ensnares. So, if I am stuck in a habitual sin, it will in time bring death to me in some way. Sin will unravel me like a snagged sweater. It will destroy me bit by bit and in the end it will bring death, even physical death. Death is the wage of sin. It is not the wrath of God. Death is not God's work. Death is sin's wage. Sin brings death, while God brings life more abundantly.
God does not use sickness, disease, calamity or destruction to teach me. He uses His Word. The Word does not say that Faith comes by sickness, disease, destruction, and calamity. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. The thief is the one that comes to steal, kill and destroy. God is not the thief.
What I have seen through the years is that much of the current commentary on scripture comes from the personal interpretation of church leaders who's foundation is unstable, and their faith or theology vacillates between each new or popular revelation that circulates around. They are either not aware of, or are ignoring foundation principles of the Doctrine of Christ found in the Word, all the while camping out in nebulous scripture taken out of context. Usually, they take vague scriptures and use them to interpret the majority of the Word, rather than use the majority of the Word to interpret the vague scriptures. They use the Word as a book of isolated phrases and clichés, like, "Christ came not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it", and "If you love me, keep my commandments," and, "The Truth will make you free," and, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." and, "God will give you the desires of your heart." and then build a whole belief system around one statement, that is, until the next great revelation of a certain isolated scripture comes floating along. All is going fine until their faith is tested. When their faith comes crashing down and doesn't work, instead of checking their foundation for flaws, they resort to blaming God by saying, "God brought this sickness, disease, calamity, or destruction on me to teach me something." I have seen this over and over again, even with myself.
I believe that End Time Prophecy and Prophetic Visions, just like the rest of the Word of God, is to be interpreted only by the Word of God. You use the majority of the Word to interpret the vague scriptures. The same goes with prophecy. There are interpretations given in the Word already of End Time Prophecy, and they paint a much clearer picture for us than anything that we can come up with on our own.
Jesus said that the work of God is to believe in the One whom God sent, Jesus. I believe, and through my believing, God works through me and in me. Works are a natural part of a life of faith. That is why faith without works is dead. Faith without works naturally flowing out of it is dead faith.
I believe that I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. My righteousness before salvation was as filthy rags, so when I came to Jesus, we traded. My righteousness was placed on Him on the cross, and I then took on His righteousness.
I believe that the wrath of God for me was fully satisfied in the death of Jesus. There is no wrath left for me. The only thing that God wants to pour out on me and all of humanity is love.
I don't believe that God brings natural disasters to destroy cities anymore unless it is specified in Prophecy in the Word of God. Every time God brought judgment to a city in the Old Testament, there were certain things that would be done which would be His signature on it. He would warn all of the Righteous before hand so that they could escape the wrath to come. He would then bring a disaster of such cataclysmic proportions that would completely destroy everything down to nothing and wipe out everyone left in the city. The destruction would be complete and there would be no way to rebuild because nothing would be left. The whole purpose of God destroying a city was to rid the world of the city's sinful depravity and those committing it. Look at Sodom and Gomorra. Look at Noah and the Flood. When God brought destruction, there was no question who brought it. Now, look at New Orleans with Hurricane Katrina. Were all of the Righteous in the city warned before hand of the supposed wrath to come? No. Was New Orleans completely destroyed by Katrina? No. Were all of the unrighteous destroyed by Katrina? No. Was the sinful depravity removed? No. It increased! If Katrina was from God, then there would have been nothing left to loot. There would have been no one left to commence in looting and other contemptible things. There would have been no one and nothing left to save. There would be no city to rebuild, and the righteous would have headed a warning by God and would have fled inland to escape the destruction. None of that happened. Katrina was not from God. It had someone else's signature on it. I do, however, believe that God sticks to His promise to Abraham that He would bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel. That theme is found throughout the Book of Revelation with the destruction that is brought upon the Beast Kingdoms and the Whore of Babylon.
I believe that Christ did not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it. The Law required punishment for sin. The Law required a spotless and blameless sacrifice. If Christ had come to abolish the Law, then no punishment for sins and no sacrifice would have been needed. Christ came in the flesh and obeyed the law completely from birth to death on the cross. He was a spotless and blameless sacrifice. Christ fulfilled the law by taking our sin upon Himself. Every single prophecy and law concerning the Messiah becoming the eternal sacrifice for our sins was completely fulfilled in Christ's life and death and resurrection. Yes, Christ did come to fulfill the law, and He did. That is the context of that scripture.
Why did he fulfill the Law? Because he could not initiate a new and better covenant with His people while the old covenant was not kept by those same people. That is why He came in the flesh. The Father could not enter into a new covenant with us until we fulfilled the Old covenant. It was not possible for us to fulfill the Old Covenant, so Christ came in the flesh and fulfilled it for us. The Father went into covenant with the Son of Man and now we partake of the new covenant by faith. That is why the Word says that when we are faithless, He remains faithful because He cannot disown Himself. We are not Covenant makers. We are Covenant Partakers.
Here are some benefits of The New Covenant. Christ kept the Law written on stone, and now the Holy Spirit has enscribed the Law on our hearts. Christ took our unrighteousness, and we are now clothed in righteousness. Christ became sin, now we are free from sin. Christ experienced separation from the Father, now nothing can separate us from the Love of Christ. Christ took upon Himself God's wrath, now we are free from God's wrath. Christ went down to hell, now we are free from the threat of hell. We are now crucified with Christ. We are dead to sin and alive to Christ. We no longer live, but Christ lives through us. Now we have the Mind of Christ working in us. Now, the Holy Spirit abides in us and we walk in power and authority. Now, Christ is purifying our desires. Now we are alive in the Spirit. Now, we don't have to strive to keep the commandments that Jesus summed up as, "Love the Lord with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself" because the love of Christ dwells in out hearts. The more we come to know Christ, the more we express His love and keep the commandments. None of these benefits were available in the old testament and in the Law of Moses.
Let me make something clear. What I am NOT is one who believes that freedom in Christ means freedom in sin. Christ died to restore relationship, not to give you a blank sin check to fill out. I believe that the wages of sin is death, even for believers. Death to hopes and dreams. Death to purpose. Death to marriage. Death to relationships. Death to nations. Death to cultures. Death to all it ensnares. So, if I am stuck in a habitual sin, it will in time bring death to me in some way. Sin will unravel me like a snagged sweater. It will destroy me bit by bit and in the end it will bring death, even physical death. Death is the wage of sin. It is not the wrath of God. Death is not God's work. Death is sin's wage. Sin brings death, while God brings life more abundantly.
God does not use sickness, disease, calamity or destruction to teach me. He uses His Word. The Word does not say that Faith comes by sickness, disease, destruction, and calamity. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. The thief is the one that comes to steal, kill and destroy. God is not the thief.
What I have seen through the years is that much of the current commentary on scripture comes from the personal interpretation of church leaders who's foundation is unstable, and their faith or theology vacillates between each new or popular revelation that circulates around. They are either not aware of, or are ignoring foundation principles of the Doctrine of Christ found in the Word, all the while camping out in nebulous scripture taken out of context. Usually, they take vague scriptures and use them to interpret the majority of the Word, rather than use the majority of the Word to interpret the vague scriptures. They use the Word as a book of isolated phrases and clichés, like, "Christ came not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it", and "If you love me, keep my commandments," and, "The Truth will make you free," and, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." and, "God will give you the desires of your heart." and then build a whole belief system around one statement, that is, until the next great revelation of a certain isolated scripture comes floating along. All is going fine until their faith is tested. When their faith comes crashing down and doesn't work, instead of checking their foundation for flaws, they resort to blaming God by saying, "God brought this sickness, disease, calamity, or destruction on me to teach me something." I have seen this over and over again, even with myself.
I believe that End Time Prophecy and Prophetic Visions, just like the rest of the Word of God, is to be interpreted only by the Word of God. You use the majority of the Word to interpret the vague scriptures. The same goes with prophecy. There are interpretations given in the Word already of End Time Prophecy, and they paint a much clearer picture for us than anything that we can come up with on our own.