ACCEPTING JESUS AFTER DEATH

See my latest blog on ACCEPTING JESUS AFTER DEATH. What about the billions of people who have lived on this earth and never heard the name of Jesus? YOu may be surprised to find out the Biblical answer to this question. Just go to

www.trinitarianletters.com/blog

Thanks for looking,

God bless,

Paul

INSIDE HEAVEN : OUTSIDE THE GATES HELL

Hi everyone,

Check out my latest blog on what and where is Hell.

Just go to www.trinitarianletters.com/blog

thanks and God bless,

Paul Kurts

WHY DO SOME "LOVE" HELL SO MUCH?

I have a new blog at www.trinitarianletters.com/blog/ on what is the real Hell of the Bible?

You can also request my articles on Hell at paul@trinitarianletters.com


Or you can go to my book site at www.trinitarianletters.com

I hope to hear from all of you,

blessings,

Paul Kurts

NEW BLOG AT TRINITARIAN LETTERS

Hi to all of you faithful blog followers. I have really enjoyed your responses to my posts over the last several years. I now have a new blog and it is easier for you to comment at this new site.

My new website for my new book, "TRINITARIAN LETTERS-YOUR ADOPTION AND INCLUSION IN

THE LIFE OF GOD" is WWW.TRINITARIANLETTERS.COM and the blog address is

www.trinitarianletters.com/blog

Check it out and please comment.

Hope to see you at the new site!

God bless you all forever!

Paul Kurts
Madison, Alabama
256-468-8081

WHO INVENTED THE HELL FIRE TEACHING???

HELL. Always a 'hot' subject. Where did you learn your concept of hell from? What IS your concept of hell? Where did the concept of hell come from originally? We know it is prior to biblical times. It is common in all of ancient history of earliest civilizations and religions. Was it God inspired? Let's think for a moment.

When Adam sinned and assumed a darkened mind with a fallen nature all of his descendents assumed that same darkness. With Satan now being the 'god of this world' and with his influence man was ready to conjure up any explanation of the after life that 'seemed' right to him. Reward for being 'good' and punishment for being bad seemed only right to fallen man's thinking.

From the earliest recognized religion in the world, Zorasterianism to the Egyptians and the Greeks, a retributive , punishing, tormenting, suffering and torturing afterlife for evil was conjured. This Satan inspired teaching served only to discredit God and His unlimited love for His children.

For thousands of years man suffered under this illusion with fear of death hanging over his head. Unfortunately this 'hell' concept came into the Christian church in the 5th century A.D. through an early church leader named Augustine of Hippo. And it has stayed in its damnable teaching in the Christian church ever since. In its teaching is is almost point for point exactly the same as the teachings of Zorasterianism, Egyhptian afterlife, Greek after life, Catholic afterlife suffering and many Protestant teachings on the aferlife as well. It may be noteworthy to know that this 'Fire' teaching of punishment was NOT preached or taught in the early N.T. church of almost 500 years.

I believe in hell, make no mistake. But the hell one experiences is self imposed through living in darkness with a fallen nature and a darkened mind excercising what the Bible calls 'eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.' Or, living out of ones own mind and thinking. Or, not believing who ACTUALLY we are IN Jesus Christ. Even after death of our physical life, one can continue to resist believing who he or she is IN Jesus. This suffering or 'perishing' can last hyhpothetically FOREVER. One could keep himself or herself out of the party of
heaven through this unbelief. Revelation chapter 22 shows that the invitation to accept and believe and take of the river of life ( Jesus ) continues on for all to believe. But until one does, he or she continues to live in Hell. Not separated from God. Always loved by the Father. Always adopted and included and wanted by the Father in His life forever.

Until we can completely get RID of our preconceived ideas of a fiery hell and torture we can never see the real Love of God for all of humanity. Nor can we experience the real love relationship between God and ourself. Father help us to see.

I can almost hear the arguments now. But, What about Lazarus and the Rich man? And worms that die not. And any number of other scriptures which SEEM to contradict what has been said here. OK, what about them. Maybe you need to do more study into actually what is being said and taught in those examples. It is an interesting study to say the least. Until next time, God bless and happy studying.

Paul

DECEMBER 21, 2012--WHAT IT DOES "NOT" MEAN

I have written on the matter of December 21,2012 before. The alignment of the stars and galactic bodies in the Milky way Galaxy. Also, the Mayan calendar and the writings of Nostradamus and the Hopi Indians. In this blog I just want to put a few things in perspective.

All of these speculative prognostications along with Bible Codes and the reading of tea leaves are just that. Interesting at best. We need to understand some things about the Universe or Cosmos. The Creation.

The great Creator God, Jesus Christ, created all things. ( Col.1:16). All things were created by Him and for Him. Again in Heb.1:3, we see that all things are upheld or sustained by the word of His Power. This is Jesus Christ's universe. It belongs to Him. He upholds it. He sustains it. He is its source of continued existence.

To man's human mind the contrivance of humanity's ultimate demise is natural to speculate. It just seems to man and his interpretation of any writings that doomsday events somehow MUST come to be. There are so many natural geological occurrences going on around the earth along with the depravity and evilness of man that the ultimate conclusion for man's mind is extinction. And man has been predicting the "end" since time immemorial. To date ALL of mans doomsday predictions including the return of Jesus Christ have all been wrong. And they WILL continue to be.

There are many 'coincidences' in many writings and beliefs extant in the world over future events. Dec.21, 2012 is one more of them.

What happens on Dec.21, 2012, "TRILLIONS" of miles from the earth regardless of What lines up with whatever will NOT have any bearing on the geological forces extant on this earth. NONE. NADA. NOTHING.

Jesus Christ is in charge of this earth. He is in charge of His plan for man. He is the creator and sustainer of the creation and the supreme creation of earth and man. He will take care of his children and one day return to this earth in Glory and Power and LOVE. And yes, one day He will create a New Heavens and a New Earth. But it will not be done by caprice and galactic alignment. It will be done by His perfect design.

I believe I will trust in Jesus Christ to do His good will and good pleasure for all of the creation including all of humanity who He loves.

God bless,

Paul Kurts
Madison, Alabama

WHAT THE HELL IS HELL ANWAY?

OK. I won't tell you things in this blog, I will just ask you questions and tell you where you can get the answers the same as I.

I want to talk about HELL. Damn skippy. Where do you think the modern Western Theological concept of an everlasting , torturing , burning, punishing , retributive hell comes from? Have you ever looked into the subject, or have you just assumed that what you have been taught or thought was CORRECT? Well, let's see.

The worlds religions going back to the first, Zoroastrianism, had a concept of reward and punishment. Heaven for your good out weighing your bad and torture for your evil outweighing your good. On to the Egyptians. They had the concept of a torture of the underworld for evil and reward for good. Then the Greeks, who had a concept of reward for good and the 'netherworld' for evil people. Plato in the 4th century B.C. gave this a name and it was HELL after a Greek goddess named hel.

Now here is where I depart from explaining all of this to you all, I just want you to GOOGLE SEARCH , Plato's Hell, Egyptian Hell, and Greek Hell. Then I want you to Google search , Catholic Hell. WOW. Do you see a connection. How did all of this Hell get into the Church of Jesus Christ?

Now Google search St. Augustine and Hell and see what he did to invest this concept into the early Catholic Church. Are you getting the picture here.

I want to send you some articles on the concept of hell as to what it is and what it is NOT. Just email me at teedup162@knology.net and I will send it all to you.

Or, you can keep your head burried in the sand and ignore the truth of what hell is NOT.

God bless,

Paul Kurts

teedup162@knology.net

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IS GOD IN ALL HUMANS?

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Is God in all humans? Does one have to accept Christ into his/her life in order to have Jesus come into his/her life? Is God living His life in us 'conditional' until we do something? Is there a quotient of belief and acceptance we have to come to in order for God to then come into us and live in us? Have we had the cart before the horse theologically?

Paul says to the pagans at Athens in Acts 17:28-31, that "we live and move and have our being in God and that God has has given ASSURANCE to ALL men".

Jesus had already said in John 14:20 that "He was in the Father, the Father was in Him and that He (Jesus) was in you/us/all." And that one day we would realize it.

When Paul writes in Colossians and Ephesians that Christ is in all he is again emphasising what Christ had already said in John 14:20 and John 17:20-26. Paul says it this way in Colossians 3:11, "....but Christ is all and IN ALL." Note Paul did not say Christ was in "you" or "you all" speaking to or referencing those at Colosse
only, he said " Christ is all and IN ALL".

In Ephesians 4:6, Paul again says it this way, " One God and Father of ALL, who is above ALL and through ALL and in you ALL."

I realize that there are those who will disagree with this but that is ok. It won't change the truth that ALL are the children of God the Father and that the Holy Spirit has been poured out in greater measure and degree on ALL flesh (Acts 2) and that Jesus lives in everyone on the planet. The caveat is that when one does not know this they do not ACT like it. When they come to a change of mind ( metanoia,Gk) of who they are in Jesus then they will begin to change and ACT like who they really are and Experience the abundant life Jesus brought to us all. (John 10:10)

Blessings,

Paul

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GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD--gods did not!

The concept of "HELL" can be found in the ancient religions of Egypt, Greece, and in most all religions of the world going back to the first world religion, Zoroastrianism. Eternal rewards for good and eternal punishments of the most horrible description can be found in studying 'Egyptian hell' and other's concept of the torture of damnation. ( See Internet articles on 'Egyptian Hell' and 'Greek Hell').

Note: None of the ancient gods existence was base on love. All were perceived as wanting to be worshipped and aggrandized. If one were not found bowing down to or extolling one of these gods that person would be on their way to a torturous afterlife of suffering. It was all about the god. There was no love lost on the human subjects of the particular god. There was no love relationship between the god and humans. There was no blessing on the people by the god. So the point....

John 3:16-17, John shows a very different kind of God that the true God really is. He says, " For God so LOVED THE WORLD that He GAVE His ONLY begotten Son...." This great God never intended for anyone to "perish" or continue to suffer, but that through belief in this loving God one would continue in relationship with Him forever.
The true God never says things like, " Worship me" or "Extol me" or "Build me up continually". He just loves us and wants us to love Him back and believe that all of our future is secured in Jesus for the blessing of all of us including every blessing of the heavenly realm. ( Ephesians 1:3-14).

Jesus did not adopt the pagan concept of a punishing, torturing and suffering Hell Fire for those who would not lift Him up or measure up with good deeds in order to escape eternal punishment. Jesus said He came to seek and to save what was lost and He did. ( Luke 19:10). The same Jesus says in John 14:20, that He is in the Father, the Father is in Him and He, Jesus, is IN US!!! We are asked to believe it. That is all.

The creation of God of the Cosmos and humanity was born out of pure love and a desire on the part of the Great Triune God to share that love with His creation of which man was supreme.

The Devil's religions do not change. The Good News in most churches is NOT Good News at all. It is rewards and punishment. Rules and regulations. It is RELIGION. And it is BAD NEWS!

The GOOD NEWS is , "God so loved the world" and secured and saved the creation through the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. And Jesus said," It is FINISHED". John 19:30. And you are INCLUDED.

God Bless,

Paul

"IT IS FINISHED!" OR WAS IT?

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Jesus, with his dying breath on the cross, exclaims, "It is finished!" What he and the Father and Holy Spirit had determined since before the foundation of the world was completed. Jesus did NOT say, "I am finished", as if there were other things left for man to do in order to effectuate the plan of salvation for mankind. In other words , "I did my part, now you humans do yours".

The Father sent Jesus to do a WORK. That work is found in Luke 19:10, Jesus said, "I came to seek and to save WHAT was lost." What was lost was the entire cosmos and humanity through sin. Did Jesus accomplish what the Father sent him to do? In John 4:34, Jesus said his "food" was to do the Father's will and to FINISH the work he was given to do. In John 17:4, Jesus said he had brought the Father Glory by finishing or completing the work the Father had given him to do.

As we look back on a couple of scriptures we see the impact of Jesus' work on this earth in the REMOVAL of Sin for the benefit of all mankind. In John 1:29, John proclaims this when he sees Jesus coming into the midst of the crowd, " Behold, the Lamb of God who takes AWAY the sin of the world!" Again in I John 2:12, John writes that our sins have been forgiven--even before we were BORN. Paul says the same thing in Ephesians 1:7, "...we have been forgiven." Notice the past tense of these writings.

What makes the New Covenant in the blood of Christ so tremendous is that it is a GIFT of God, from God to all of us-You included. It is a PROCLAMATION of God's love for us and what he has ALREADY done in Jesus for all of us.

There is NO remaining part of "finishing" anything to make our salvation secure in Jesus. We are not "Co-Saviours" with Christ by having to DO ANYTHING. Except-----Believe. Believe WHO we now are IN Jesus. We are the loved and ADOPTED children of God made true by Jesus Christ.

Notice Ephesians 1:3-14. This passage declares this eternal truth to all of us as being true from BEFORE THE CREATION OF THE WORLD. The Father simply loves us and wants us to live with him and IN the Trinity forever. He made it so in Jesus.

Can we believe this? Maybe, maybe not. It sounds too good to be true, but it still is true. Scripture attests to this fact. Believe it. "IT IS FINISHED."

God bless,

Paul

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LIFE ON OTHER PLANETS

Life on other planets in other Solar Systems and Galaxies??? Maybe, Maybe not.
While no one can be totally demonstrative on this subject, we can make a few observations with some degree of intelligence.

Hebrews expressly tell us that Jesus is the complete atonement for ALL sin. He has reconciled the entire cosmos back to God. He is the complete Atonement for EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING. With this in mind let's discuss life on other planets.

It is possible that God created life , just like life we have here on this earth, on other planets in other galaxies in other solar systems. Possible.

( Aliens from outer Space is a totally different subject.)

IF, and this is a big if, God created life as we know it on this earth on other planets, I believe He did so AFTER Adam and Eve's creation on this earth.

After the "fall". After the "original" sin.. After the atonement. After the salvation of the entire cosmos.

If this is so, then these people would have no need for 'another' atonement since Jesus' life, death, resurrection and asension covered ALL things. Those people too.

They could be living out what God intended for Adam and Eve to accept originally.

The Tree of life. Life. Eternal life.

Again, if this is possibly true, then I believe it would have occurred AFTER Adams's sin and After Jesus life , death, and resurrection and ascension to the Father.

So, there are many philosophyical and Theological implications to this question and I do NOT pretend to know the answer.

What do you think. Post your comments. If you wish.

Paul

DO YOU ACCEPT "FALSE" TEACHINGS?

This CAN'T be right! This probably will be many, if not most's reaction to this blog." I never heard it this way and I don't believe it!" Rather than ask you to just believe me here, I do ask that you do your OWN research into this subject as there is much information concerning this topic. More info at the end of this blog.

Churches which have come from the Roman Catholic Church, and the Catholic Church as well, have adopted and preached a wrong concept of salvation along with a false and pagan Platonic concept of HELL which originated with the Greek philosopher Plato in the 400's B.C. ( Just Google search for yourself, " PLATO'S HELL.") This false doctrine was incorporated into the Catholic Church by St. Augustine of Hippo in the
5th Century A.D. Augustine was an avid reader of Plato and saw that by putting this philosophy of eternal torture and punishment into church doctrine it would keep members "in line" and paying their money and through FEAR obedient to the teachings of the church.

Many churches today do NOT teach such torture in any "hell fire", but for the lost SEPARATION from God. But this is ALSO a false teaching as well. Humans can no more be separated from God than they can be separated from their own shadow.

So what is hell then? To make a long story short, hell is simply living one's life making one's own decisions based upon one's own thinking coming from a darkened mind with a fallen sinful nature which we all have inherited from the first Adam. This
"eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" leads only to a life of sin, strife, misery, suffering, angst, unhappiness, war, divorce, addictions and every other evil existence man experiences described in scripture as...HELL. AND, this suffering can last FOREVER if one never comes to see WHO he or she is IN Jesus Christ. Even at the 'Final Judgement' before the Throne of God one can STILL refuse to accept and believe that God LOVES them and that they have forgiveness and salvation and eternal life GIVEN to them IN Jesus Christ. They can Continue in HEll.

The Good News is that The Father does not give up!!! Just like the father in the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15, the Father continues to seek for the older son to come into the party.

The GOOD NEWS is simply this: Salvation has been given to EVERYONE WHO HAS EVER LIVED. Universal redemption and reconciliation has been extended to ALL. ( I Cor.15:22). All died in Adam and the same ALL have been made alive in Jesus, the Second Adam.) We do not try to 'get someone saved', they ALREADY ARE SAVED IN JESUS. Sharing the GOSPEL then is INFORMING someone that they ARE saved and loved and adopted and included in the life of the Triune God all made to happen to them by the life, death, resurreciton and ascension of Jesus Christ. Then it is up to them with the help of the Holy Spirit to accept it and believe it and then EXPERIENCE IT.
Sadly, scripture allows for some to not accept it and believe it even forever. They would then simply exist OUTSIDE the party not enjoying the Marriage Supper of the Lamb and not experiencing the 'pleasures at the right hand of God.' ( See Psalms 16:11).

It may take another Millennium for a deceived Christian world to come to see these truths. Until then all may know that they are loved by God and that their eternal life is secure in Jesus Christ.

I know I shall get raked over the coals for this post, but I ask you to do your homework on the subject. Much information exist on this topic. Check out the Blog Roll on this site. Go to www.Newlifewcg.org for more information. Go to www.gci.org.
Go to PERICHORESIS.ORG. And these are just for starters. So much is available to lift us out of the darkness and into the light of Jesus. (John 8:12.) God bless you in your studies.

Paul

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YOU DON'T HAVE A CHOICE !!!

When The Triune God decided to make mankind, see Genesis 1:26-27, He determined that He would have man live inside of His life forever. He wanted humans inside of His Triune life upon whom He would lavish His love. Ephesians Chapter one is about how God chose humanity IN Jesus to be Adopted and Included in His life forever. You and I were included in that decision at that time. You had NO CHOICE. All humans were included and none had a choice either. God simply did this for His good pleasure and in His will.

When Adam and Eve sinned by taking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which brought misery, suffering and DEATH on them and their human family--see I Cor.15:22, now not only did Jesus have to come to create UNION between the human family and the Triune God, He had to now come to provide ATONEMENT, forgiveness and sacrifice for the sins of the whole world and all humans, AND, even the entire Cosmos was redeemed and reconciled in the blood of Jesus. ( See Colosians 1:19-20).
The entire Cosmos and humanity had become lost through sin. Jesus came to seek and to save what was lost and He did. ( Luke 19:10). And, yes mankind was lost and dead in the first Adam, but in Jesus Christ the same mankind was made ALIVE! (I Cor.15.22)

We simply did not have a vote. We had no choice in the matter. God loved us all to much to allow us to have a choice. Salvation is His idea, not ours. It is because of His great love for us His children that He devised this plan in the first place.

So, we ALL are bought by God with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus saved all of humanity 2000 years ago and in His resurrection and ascension took all of us to the right hand of the Father in Heaven. ( See Ephesians 2:6). Again, you nor I had a choice in the matter. The blessings and joy in this eternal relationship with the Triune God will be beyond our wildest dreams. We will inherit ALL things including the entire Cosmos/Universe.(Hebrews 2:5-8). Life will never end. The abundant life Jesus brought will continue on forever. God is Good. So Good in fact we can not fathom His Goodness.

There is one caveat to all of this. You nor I had a choice in this matter, but in order for us to experience this inheritance we MUST BELIEVE who we are IN Jesus and what He has done TO, FOR, IN and THROUGH all of humanity. If we refuse to believe it thus denying our position in the Father's plan there is no way we can experience "Heaven" and only then a 'hellish' existence of being outside the party in Heaven will be one's lot.

Again, you have no choice as to whether or not this is so, it is so! But you do have the option of believing it or not. I pray you will BELIEVE.

For more information on this subject, go to WWW.GCI.ORG.

Blessings to all,

Paul Kurts

CAN'T OVERCOME SIN, IT'S O.K.

To start this blog post, please read my last one to set this one up. We still often see things in our life from a past paradigm of Western Theological philosophy in a rewards and punishment perspective. One which we in Western Christianity have inhereited from Plato and St. Augustine of Hippo. With this warning in mind let's proceed to this present blog post.

In our humanity we all live in the fallenness we received from the first Adam and with a darkened mind also received from him. Just because we acknowledge who we are in Jesus Christ and believe what He says applies to us does not mean that we all check our humanness, weaknesses, lusts, carnality, vanity, greed, jealousies and all other fleshly human foibles at the door of the Church of Jesus Christ. We all too often walk in and after the flesh and not as often do we walk in and after the Spirit. And what I am telling all of us is this. " THIS IS O.K. "

Jesus did not come to stop humans from sinning. He came to FORGIVE SIN and become sin, all sin for all of us His children. Paul says it this way in Romans 5:18, "...the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life ( eternal life) for ALL men " Jesus simply makes us righteous by His declaration as an act of God made possible by His perfect life.

Jesus is not going to let our sins slip under the door and miss some of them and thereby we find sins in our life that go unforgiven. Silly I know, Jesus "has our back" as the terminology of the day goes.

Paul speaks to this dual life we lead, one in the flesh and the other in the Spirit , in Romans 7. Paul illustrates that we as humans will always have the two sides of our life warring against each other. But , in Jesus, we have the victory in that war because He says SO! Then Paul says in Romans 8:1, "...there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." All actually are, they all just do not know it yet. And they will.

( Again, if you have not read my last blog post, please take the time to do so now.)

Jesus even said himself in John 5:24, that we have passed from death into life through faith and belief in Him. In Matt.11:28, Jesus speaks to all of us trying to become perfect in the flesh by doing this that or the other thing or NOT doing this that or the other thing. He simply says REST. Come to Him and Rest. I will give you rest, He says.

To illustrate the continuing corruption we all are in the flesh, Paul says it this way in ICor.15:53 (OKJ), " This corruptible must put on incorruption." What Paul is saying that even until the day we die or are resurrected we are still sinners and we are still corruption or corruptible. We NEVER attain perfection of the flesh in this life. We can improve but only in Jesus Can we be PERFECT. And we ARE!!!

We all too often go around beating ourselves up over weaknesses and sins or lusts which we may NEVER humanly conquer in this physical life. Alcoholism. Drug addiction. Pornography addiction. Sex addiction. Tobacco addiction. You name it and someone has it. But we all have victory in Jesus Christ who Gives us the Victory. ICor.15:57. We simply win because declares us winners.

I love the verse in Romans 14:22 which says, " blessed is the man who does not condemn himself in what he approves." Jesus says to quit judging each other and rest. Rejoice. Celebrate what He has done to us and for us. He loves us unconditionally which I have been describing here.

We are ALL weak sinners. We all live in a body of sin and death. We all have a darkened mind. We all live in the fallenness of the first Adam. And it is while we are YET sinners Christ died for us the ungodly. Thank you Jesus. Eternity with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit awaits all of us who believe.

SIN IS OVER- YOU ARE FOREVER FORGIVEN AND CLEAN

Luke 7:40-50, speaks of those who are forgiven much ( us ) who love much and those who are forgiven little, loving little.

Romans 5:20 speaks of Grace always outrunning our sin. "You can't outsin Grace," as I put it.

Romans 5:1-7, speaks of while we all are yet and still sinners, Christ died for us.

I John 1:7, speaks that the blood of Christ cleanses/purifies us of all sin.

Even when John first laid eyes on Jesus, his comment was, "Behold the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." Foolish John, he actually thought that Jesus took away the sin of the world. Either he did or He did not.

In Heb.9:26, we see that Jesus did away with the sin of the world.

And, In I John 3;5, we see that in Jesus, Us being in Jesus, there is NO Sin.

Jesus became sin for us. See IICor.5:19-20. Why? So that we can be called the Righeousness of God.

Where do you stand on the sin question in your life? Are you feeling shame? Do you feel guilt? Do you "want to do better"? Why?

Did Jesus pay it all or did he not?

Let's just cut to the chase:

We are unconditionally loved by the Father.
Jesus' blood forgave us of all sin, past, present, and future.

God has forgotten all of our sin.

If He does, why do we still remember it?

We stand ever present in God's eyes , loved, forgiven, clean, righteous, holy, without spot or blemish, and INSIDE of God's life forever by Jesus declaration.

Can it get any better than that?

What does God think when we sin? Answer: NOTHING. Why? because He has forgotten it. It is covered, forgiven in the Blood of Christ.

We are great sinners. Always in the falleness of Adam. But in Jesus Christ, we are the recipients of Great forgiveness and adoption.

Jesus simply undid or overturned what Adam did and Jesus makes it all right before God the Father. You are in there someplace.

Whatever question you may have, Jesus is the Answer, as Billy Graham says. He is your answer, He is your life. He is your future. He is your everything.

Sin has been dealt with 2000 years ago. Rejoice when you sin. Thank Jesus that He took it on Himself 2000 years ago and you forever stand clean and forgiven and righteous in His eyes.

How good can this get?

Paul Kurts
Pastor Paul
Madison, Alabama
256-468-8081

DID HE OR DIDN'T HE?

Modern religionists want to make the Gospel SO conditional that it is beyond the reach of most human beings. Statements like, "you CAN be saved," or "you CAN be forgiven" permeate the doctrinal landscape of many professing Christians.

Verses such as " God so loved the world", become God so loved 'most' or 'some' of the world with that love being limited to only those who would somehow 'qualify' for that love.

Or, I Cor. 15:22, "As in Adam ALL die, in Christ ALL are / will be made alive." This is read as , " If one does the appropriate applications then one CAN be made alive in Christ." My point is that either we are made alive in Christ or we are not. No if, ands, or buts.

In Ephesians 1, either we ALL were chosen in Jesus Christ BEFORE the foundation of the world to be blameless IN HIS SIGHT ( By His declaration as an act of God) or we were not. Which is it? What hoops and ladders do we have to jump through or climb to attain this blamelessness? What do we have to do to be a part of His pleasure and will? Can we just be allowed to play God for a little while so we can make all of God's plan work out so He will LIKE it? Either we ALL were chosen before the foundation of the world or we were not.

God's plan and the Salvation of the Cosmos and humanity is not Conditional. It is not a potentiality or possibility. The Good News is not contractural. It is not based on us or anything humanity can do. The Good News is simply an ANNOUNCEMENT OR PROCLOMATION of what God HAS DONE ALREADY for all of humanity IN Jesus Christ.

The Good News is that you--ALL of you- have been given a part in it by our Great Triune God and loving Saviour, Jesus Christ. Did He or Didn't He?

He Did.

Amen

FAITH OF CHRIST OR FAITH IN CHRIST? WHICH?

Some have never even thought of this question which is of vital importance and relevance to all humans on earth. That question is, " is one saved by the FAITH OF CHRIST, or is one saved by FAITH IN Christ?" At first this may seem like a non sequitur, but in fact it IS the WHOLE Gospel in truth.

Karl Barth, the great Swiss/German Theologian said that the Gospel turns on prepisitions. How true.

We hear often, " Do you have faith? Do you have faith in Christ? Like that is something great and is going to do all there is in this great Cosmos to save a person. Don't get me wrong , faith in Christ is GOOD. To believe in Jesus Christ is VERY GOOD. Well, how much faith IN Christ is required for salvation? Is it a little, more, or much? Well, how much? Any room for error?

I posit that it is impossible for a human to have faith enough to secure salvation. At best humans can GUESS, OR POSTULATE, OR HOPE, OR ANY NUMBER OT OTHER THINGS BUT faith, I don't think so. At our best , our faith is only partial, limited, and small.

Will that do the work of God? Will that human , small, limited faith conclude the plan of God on this earth? You had better hope not.

There is a better understanding. It simply is this. EVERYTHING DEPENDS AND IS PREDICATED UPON THE FAITH OF JESUS CHRIST.

He is OUR Faith. He has perfect Faith and He gives it to us whether we know it or not.

He is our life. Col.3:4. And if that is so, then He is our FAITH as Well!!!!

We live and exist by the FAITH of the Son of God who lived and died for us and in our place. Gal.2:20.

IN our limited human understanding we can at least have some faith that Jesus' Faith is all we need. And that is enough.

Love to all,
Paul

CONDEMNATION / DAMNATION...NOT THE SAME!!!

Woah... one thing we need to understand here is that Condemnation and Damnation are NOT the same thing. You argumentative religious hobbyists can go home now!

We read in John 5:29 that those who have 'not done good' come forth to the resurrection of damnation. KJV. Now Wait just a minute. We know that we are all saved in Jesus Christ. By Grace. Not based upon any thing we have done, good or evil. We know that we all... humans.. were chosen by Christ, and in Christ before the foundation or creation of the world. We know that God so loved the world. Jn.3:16.

We know that all of Adam's family are under the curse of death and condemnation by Adam's sin and fall. We simply inherit that penalty. But... we know that in Jesus that death penalty has been overturned and we are accepted into Jesus' life and receive real LIFE IN JESUS. We are transformed from dead to living in Jesus. I cor. 15:22. We know that this applies to ALL living humans who have ever lived. Eph.1:3-14.

We know also that none of us are any longer under any condemnation in Jesus as Romans 8:1 tells us. So we see all are saved and reconciled in Jesus, we are no longer under any condemnation and have passed from death to life, John 5:24, and are alive in Jesus. So what is this damnation all about?

Simply, if one refuses to accept who he or she is in Jesus and what all He has done for them, then by that refusal they simply will continue to live in a state of damnation or self sufficiency and misery and suffering and perishing and weeping and gnashing of teeth for as long as it takes for them to "see the light" and accept who they are in Jesus and come into the party of heaven.

There is NO condemnation in Jesus. The whole world is under condemnation or death due to Adam's sin and fall--I Cor.11:32--but Jesus has released all of humanity from under that death condemnation through belief in Him and Who we all are in Jesus. There is damnation of self choice by those refusing to accept and believe who they are in Jesus, and that denial and suffering can go on forever--and the Bible calls that HELL.

Good News...Huh?

Paul
256-468-8081
Madison, AL
www.newlifewcg.org

ASCENSION SUNDAY. WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT?

Sunday was Ascension Sunday. One of the six great feast days of the Christian Church.
Why is it so important and what does it mean for all of us--all of humanity?
It was placed in the church in around the 300's A.D. before the Catholic Church was ever recognised. It was placed to declare the BODILY ASCENSION of Jesus Christ into Heaven. Jesus remains forever human in His eternal existence in His humanity.

In Acts 1:10-11, the angel said, " this SAME Jesus who you see ascending into heavens will come again ." The Feast of Ascension or Ascension Sundany, ( May 16th this year,) declares the bodily resurrection and ascension of Jesus into Heaven.

This is important for all of us--humanity--for it is in the ascension of Jesus that He takes all of us in His ascension and places all of us at the Father's right hand along with himself. ( Ephesians 2:6).

Not only this, but since Jesus is still human in his existence, we will also be human in our eternal existence with a "spiritual body" of flesh and bone which appears 'physical" and without physical limitations. Not subject to decay or death. See I Cor. 15.

In a sense, the Ascension of Jesus validates the entire Gospel which concludes with all of mankind residing at the right hand of the Father with Jesus, a position of highest love and respect the same as the Father has for Jesus himself.

In our state of Union with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit IN Jesus we will have, as Paul describes in I Cor. 15, our own 'spriitual body' which will appear 'physical' and without physical imitations. We will be able to do all of the things we do now but only better with a 'glorified' body made of spirit but appearing physical.

Ascension Sunday and the ascension of Jesus to the right hand of the Father and taking all of us with Him is vital to our understanding of the Gospel.

A few verses to further study for all of us;

I Cor. 15:47-49. The man Jesus remains a human man from heaven.
I Tim. 2:5, Jesus, the MAN, remains the mediator between heaven and man
Acts 1:10-11 The same Jesus which ascended in Acts 1 will return in the same
bodily form as always--one which He will have forever.
Ephesians 1:3-14 All of humanity has been included in this eternal future in Christ

May God bless all of us in uderstanding this more.

Pastor Paul
Madison, Al
256-468-8081

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MAN'S DESTINY IS IN GOD'S HANDS--AND THAT IS GOOD!

Man's destiny is God's destiny for man. God's plan for the destiny of man is a done deal finalized in the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. There is a little mostly obscure verse back in Isiah 46:10 most would read VERY incorrectly. It reads, " I declare the end from the beginning." Most would read this as , since God knows everything He just knows the end of things as He can see that end and knows in advance how it will all play out. BUT, this is NOT what the verse says. It says, " He DECLARES the end from the beginning. This means that He is completely in charge. His will is involved in the outcome of the future. He is in charge of our life and declares the end for all of His creation. And that end is Good. It is Good News for everyone. He brings it all about as He wishes for His good pleasure.

With this said let's look at a few scriptures which reveal what that "end" for humanity is. Gen.1:26-27, God said let us make man in our image. Relational. Loving. Then in Ephesians 1:3-14, God shows that He adopted man into His life from before the foundation of the world by His Grace. II Tim.1:9. Then through Jesus Christ He seated man at His right hand with Jesus. All of mankind. Then he declares in Hebrews 2:5-8, that ALL things will be put under mans feet and in subjection to man ultimately. All here is the GK. word , "panta", which means the entire Cosmos, the universe, all things.

So the Destiny of man is to be with God, in God, experiencing real life with God for all of eternity. A loving relational relationship of pure joy, peace, harmony, pleasure, and happiness forever.

There is one small ( or large) caveat which man must deal with. And that is , man must believe it in order to experience it.

Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.

Paul