Corporate Election Amongst Other Things

So, I'm looking into the perspectives of Corporate and Individual Election in the Christian Church. The two main types of individual election are Conditional Election from a Wesleyan viewpoint and Unconditional Election from a Calvinist Viewpoint. Corporate Election is speaking of the nation of Israel and is being used in a shrewd attempt to put a halt to the Calvinist insistence that election is unconditional and act of the Sovereign will of God over totally depraved fallen man.

 

Scriptures for Unconditional Election: Ephesians 1:4, Acts 13:48, Romans 8:29, Romans 9:16, Romans 9:11-13, John 6:44. This list is by no means exhaustive in relation to the scriptures that support Calvinism.

 

Scriptures for Conditional Election: Ezekiel18:23, Ezekiel 33:11, Job 37:23, John 3:16, Acts 13:48, Romans 10:9, 1Timothy 2:3-6, John 12:32, 2Corinthians 5:14, 2Corinthians 5:15, 1John 2:2. Again, this list is by no means exhaustive in relation to the scriptures the support Wesleyan Arminianism.

 

If I didn't have the choice of conditional election saying that we have a choice to accept salvation over unconditional election saying we don't have a choice in the matter at all. I would might choose Corporate Election because it is about the predestination of the Nation of Israel in the Second Temple period and can be applied to the Corporate Election of the Church in the Church Age. In this view Christ Jesus is the Elect-One and all of the Christians and His Church are Corporately elect in him. This view  of the Second Temple period and is that of the people of Israel in Jesus  time and later in the apostle Paul's time. In this ideology Predestination is not about personal election as much as becoming a part of the Corporate Church through the elect one Christ Jesus. Where people are also often elected for a specific purpose which would relate to those called to salvation.

 

Calvinism and Predestination tends to generate more heat than light really. When you read Tulip with its Total Depravity; Unconditional Election; Limited Atonement; Irresistible Grace; Perseverance of the Saints. It may sound reasonable. In fact, when you read Romans chapters eight and nine and John 6:44 where Jesus says no one comes to me unless the Father draws him near to me. It may seem like game over and victory won to John Calvin.

 

However, that doesn't explain scriptures like Ezekiel 18 "Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? Or Ezekiel 33:11 " Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?" Where God seems to be saying it is very definitely up the individual Israelite to take responsibility for their wrongdoing and to turn back to the Lord and repent in righteousness.

 

It doesn't explain those scriptures the state that Christ died for all like John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 1 John 2:2 "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world." Hebrews 2:9 "But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honour because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone." John 1:29 "The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" Isaiah 53:6 "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." All here being all of Israel. 1 Timothy 4:10 "For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Saviour of all people, especially of those who believe." 2 Corinthians 5:15 "And he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised." ESV

 

So just as we are all predestined from the foundation of the World and can't come near to Christ Jesus lest the Father draws us near to him. There is no doubt Predestination is a definite theme in scripture. However, It is also fair to say that the atonement of Christ Jesus is unlimited. That Jesus died that all might be saved and through the delivery of the gospel to the World all are drawn near to Christ. Though, not all will avail themselves of God's Grace through the gospel and by believing on the Saviour.

 

Provision is made for them and in accordance with Jesus' description in the Parable of the Sower. Matthew 13: 2-9 "And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A Sower went out to sow.  And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear."

All hear the good news of the gospel but not all will repent and some who are moved by the gospel will not go on in the faith. Others will repent and lead fruitful lives in Jesus Christ.

 

If those who are proponents of Calvinism and Election through the Sovereignty of God were balanced they would accept that the reality is that all of mankind has choice, and exercises that choice every moment of the day, all of the time. The story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5: 1-5 demonstrates this principle clearly. "Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet. Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.” When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him. NIV

 

In fact it's like deciding to save to buy a home. Very few people believe that they will achieve that goal without a lot of hard work and determination. Almost no one would embark on such a lofty challenge and sit around waiting for God to achieve it for them out of His sovereign will. To make things happen we all accept the need to apply force and expect that to be the case. So it is with salvation. We may be depraved and lacking in the ability to make such decisions but God gives us the ability to make that choice and expects us to exercise it. Just as He expects us to repent of our sins. He has sent His Helper, the Holy Spirit, to assist us with the heavy lifting but expects us to actually do the repenting.

 

So in the end is Corporate Election the great solution to the Election issue or is it Conditional or Unconditional Election. I think personally the answer is no. Corporate Election applies to Israel and may apply to the Church in the Church Age but there are scriptures that apply to the individual. You can add the caveats that some are elected specifically for God's purposes but even then I tend to think this is trying to force an application on scripture that doesn't naturally apply. The reality then is that while we find ourselves a part of God's elect. In the end those who refuse to believe were still called through the gospel and given that opportunity to believe through Grace itself in the truth of the gospel. Provision was made for all and that is a solid theme in scripture. As to Calvinism let it gather dust on the shelf. Christians have other more important things to do in obeying the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19-20

Freedom of Choice or Sovereignty of God

 

There are numerous scriptures about predestination (Ephesians 1:4-5, Romans 8:29, John 6:44, 2 Timothy 1:9), and a few that indicate that we have a choice when it comes to salvation (Titus 2:11-12, John 3:16, Luke 13:34, Joshua 24:15, Proverbs 16:9, Isaiah 55:6-7, 2Peter 3:9).

 

In our time this is becoming more of an issue in the Australasian Churches than it has been in the past. Back in the day the Reformed Churches down under were mostly Lutheran with a few other Reformed congregations and a minority among the Christian folk smattered across the other denominations. I know personally I didn't know a thing about Predestination or Calvinism but I did know some folk who did. They warned it could be quite a controversial belief and generally to avoid it while giving thanks it wasn't a big thing in the Kiwi Churches.

 

Today the Calvinist Movement is having a renaissance and while the rest of the Kiwi Churches are either plateauing or in steep decline the Reformed Movement is coming into its own. This is because the Christians in the movement are more fundamentalist than liberal and so stick to the Bible as the as the authoritative source of all things Christian.

 

 Predestination and the Sovereignty of God is never far from their thoughts though. There are those who debate from a highly intellectual Systematic Theology approach stating the mankind is depraved and cannot choose salvation in Jesus Christ even if they wanted too. So, God must select them and give them Grace to enable them to choose Him.

 

Then there are those who perhaps are the antagonists to the doctrine who argue purely from the Christian heart of the Spirit filled believer. They say that God is a loving father who desires to save all of His children. He so loved us that He gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, that whoever believes on Him, shall not perish but will inherit eternal life. These folk believe that God loves us and gives us the choice to decide for salvation in Christ Jesus or to reject salvation all together.

 

There are several three common perspectives on Predestination. The first perspective is the Calvinist Unconditional Election and basically states "God, and for no other purpose than his good pleasure, predetermined (chose, elected, etc.) that some would be regenerated (born again) and place their faith in Christ." They believe man to be Totally Depraved; Unconditionally Elected; Limited Atonement in that Christ atoned only for the Elect; Finds Grace Irresistible so cannot resist salvation when God applies it; Perseveres and therefore cannot lose his salvation.

 

The second perspective is Conditional Election and was the view held by John Wesley and is often called Wesleyan Arminianism. It basically states. "Simply put, Conditional Election means that a person’s election to salvation is conditioned on their faith in Christ." This is the to have been the view of the Early Church in the first four centuries after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This theology speaks of Prevenient Grace which indicates that in the sharing of the gospel that Grace gives the depraved sinner the ability to choose Christ. It is also considered that man can turn from God and lose his salvation.

 

The third perspective is Corporate Election and is argued to be the view of election that the Apostle to the Gentiles, Paul believed. It is said to be taken from the Second Temple period and basically puts forward the idea that election to salvation was not personal but national.  Belonging to the nation of Israel made you corporately elect. The proponents of Corporate Election believe that Christ is the elect one and as we become members of the Church, His Bride, we become a part of the elect. The corporate view of election has two main emphases. Firstly, election is more often in reference to a service or task. Secondly, The Messiah, Jesus the Christ is the Elect One, and when we are “in him” we take on his elect-ness similar to how we take on Christ’s righteousness.

 

Personally, I hate idea of unconditional election. I just don't believe that having no choice in salvation or for that matter anything else I do in this life is really what Jehovah is capable of or would do. The Wesleyan Arminian perspective is probably the one that most completely fits my view of how election works. I'm not sure of prevenient grace but I do believe that all are predestined to salvation but not all will avail themselves of it.

 

I believe that when the gospel is preached that Christ Jesus bore our sins on the Cross, died and was then Resurrected on the third day. That the Father draws us near to Jesus through the gospel and enables us to make the decision for or against Salvation. If we are so depraved we can't make the decision about Salvation one way or the other then I guess that Prevenient Grace is what happens when everyone hears the gospel preached.

 

The major problem with Calvinist view is that is the unintended consequences that arise from it. There's no point in sharing the gospel because those who are saved were always going to be. I can't lead a better life, or be sanctified, because God has predestined my whole life. I can only be what he has decided I will be. Basically a sophisticated automation. Honestly it just doesn't make sense.

 

Outside of these various ways of describing election the biggest contradiction is between the scriptures which relate to predestination and indicate that the elect are a finite number like Ephesians 1:4 and the scriptures that seem to be saying that in Christ Jesus salvation is for all such as John 3:16. There has to be a link between these competing scriptures that solves this issue.

 

To me it seems that the Great Commission has to have a part in this. Jesus says this in Matthew 28: 19-20 "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

 

Our Lord was instructing the disciples to take the gospel to the nations. It seems the gospel is for everyone and John 3:16 reinforces this idea “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

 

Could it be that all are predestined through the eternal gospel as it is described in Revelation 14: 6-7 "Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

 

In this scripture the angel takes to eternal gospel to all on the Earth. On would assume that the gospel is therefore for everyone and everyone has a choice to accept or deny Salvation through Christ Jesus at that time. So all can be called, drawn by the Father to Christ Jesus, through the gospel but not all will accept the gospel. God gives them through Grace, in Christ Jesus, the ability to accept salvation or to reject salvation. He gives them the choice. You can call it prevenient grace.

 

Could it be that God is a loving Father and he takes the responsibility for the decision of the lost to reject salvation upon himself. Just as Jesus took our sin upon Himself while we were yet sinners and paid the price for our transgressions. The father accepts the decision of the lost to reject salvation.

 

He is the creator. Therefore as he created Adam and Eve and they chose to disobey him in the Garden of Eden and that led to the fall of mankind and sin. So rather than blame us God takes the blame for mankind whom he created in His image. Christ Jesus bore the sin of the elect and God as Creator accepted the blame for the lost who chose to reject the salvation that Jesus secured for them. God has taken the blame for the wicked but they still have to accept the consequences. Eternal separation from God, Eternal Fire.

Misconceptions

 

In the fundamentalist church there are some commonly held misconceptions. Now over the years I’ve heard it said that the bible is perfect. It is the Word of God and many Christians won’t hear word spoken against it. That is actually a sound teaching but even so every book is written by a human being inspired by God.

 

The gospel of John for instance very much reflects John’s personality. He was obviously a very loving person and he believed God to be loving as well. So much so that he said in 1 John 4:8“But anyone who does not love does not know God”. Paul, the apostle to the gentiles was an ex-Pharisee. As he wrote you can sense his somewhat legalistic, conservative demeanour and as a bachelor he had a fairly intolerant attitude toward women.

 

Many will disagree with me but the men who wrote the bible were flawed and human just like you and I. That’s why God chose them to write the various books of the bible. So they would connect with the people in their societies. When we read the bible it helps if we know something of the life and times of the men who were called to make a contribution to God’s word. The bible shows those character traits and flaws that made the writers the people they were.

 

Christians are very good at what I would call playing Church games. By this I mean that every denomination is guilty of holding to certain doctrines and can distort the way they interpret the bible as they apply those certain doctrines. For instance the Adventists have a doctrine called “The Investigative Judgement.”

 

This doctrine is based on interpretations of scripture from Ellen White and the leaders of the Adventist Movement in the days following “The Great Disappointment.” It basically says that to get into heaven requires Grace plus Works. Effectively you’re still under the law. To affect this doctrine the Adventists quote widely from the writings of Ellen White which they employ seamlessly with Word of God.

 

The Reformed Church have several Catechism’s such as the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Heidelberg Confession that largely go through the bible and make statements of faith that pull out the doctrines that the Reformed Church adheres too. They always say that the bible is their authoritative source but I notice they spend a lot of time studying the catechism and teaching their children to memorise portions of it. My concern with this is that they are affording the same status to the catechism as the Word of God and this has to have an impact on the theology of the believers in the Reformed Church.

 

So I just want to say here that I am not meaning to criticise the Adventists or the Reformed Christians per se. I am merely commenting from the position of an observer stating some intriguing behaviours on the part of Christians that I have had experience with. The reason that I am commenting on these behaviours is because they cause a raft of unintended consequences. 

 

So, often it seems that deep seated beliefs that have initiated certain thinking and resulted in specific doctrines at some point in the development of a movement or denomination. It also seems that once these doctrines and beliefs are in place that regardless of any contentions against them. They attain an unchallengeable status which results in sects within the Church at large.

 

I wonder at times if the situation only really effects people like me who are seriously determined to know the truth of things Christian and equally determined that my point of view is the right one. Defender of the Faith and Champion of the Underdog as it were.

 

This brings me to the crux of the matter which is that really Christianity should be pretty simple. It’s based around understanding that we all are sinners and fall short of the glory of God and need salvation. Accepting that we need to believe that Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God bore our sins on the Cross. That He died and the Father resurrected Him on the third day to eternal life. That we who believe on Him will not perish but will inherit eternal life.

 

In fact Christianity at an individual level is about our relationship with Christ Jesus and it is about repenting and being baptized in the name of his name. An obvious part of the Christian life is living a life in the Spirit, This is supremely important and you can spot the people doing this in a congregation a mile off. They are happy, joyous folk who seem unflappable and don’t usually worry a whole lot about the doctrinal issues the beleaguer the rest of us. Maybe if we ditched the scrapping over issues which we can’t change we would do better in making our focus on living a Spirit filled life.

 

Perhaps this is true faith. Staying out of the disputes about theology and putting more time into prayer and spending time with Christ. Seeking to surrender to the will of God in the power of the Holy Spirit. Being a living example of Christ Jesus to those around us. Loving our fellow man as we love ourselves and in the process sharing the Grace of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Salvation: Is there choice?

 

So in the doctrines relating to salvation in Christianity is there choice. What I mean here is does God select the members of His Church or do believers have a choice in choosing to believe that Christ Jesus bore their sins on the Cross?

I'm just going to say here that as with so many beliefs about the doctrines in Christianity there is often a stalemate where the various groups that have competing theological ideas and have come to an impasse. The doctrines relating to Salvation and in particular the Doctrine of Election are a case in point.

There are those who believe Christians are only elected by God and those who believe that Christians only choose to believe the gospel. As you can imagine each group believes that only it is correct and the other group is laboring under a gross misapprehension slash delusion.

Now in this case the group that believes that Christians are saved only by being elected by God are well known. These are the Calvinists or Reformed Christians. The group who believe all potential Christians are allowed to choose to believe on Christ Jesus are called the Armenians or perhaps Wesleyan Armenians. The former in the past would have covered the Anglican, Lutheran and Presbyterian Churches while the Latter would have covered Methodist, Baptist, Brethren and the many Christian fellowships.

I think the easiest way to describe the Calvinist view of the Doctrine of Election is to go through the acronym TULIP. In this acronym T stands for Total Depravity; U stands for Unconditional Election; L stands for Limited Atonement; I stands for Irresistible Grace; P stands for Perseverance of the Saints.

So the basis of Calvinist (Reformed), thinking is that mankind is totally depraved and unable to do any righteous thing including choosing to be saved. Election is without negotiation and decided completely by Sovereign God. We have no choice in being saved as it is the sole decision of the Sovereign Lord. Christ Jesus' atonement on the Cross is limited to the saints alone. He never died for the Lost to be saved. The Grace of God is irresistible so that even if we didn't want to be saved we would have no choice. You cannot lose your Salvation therefore perseverance of the saints or eternal security is complete. The Calvinist Doctrine of Election is therefore completely without personal freedom of Choice.

The Armenian stance put forward by Calvinists to succinctly put a Calvinist perspective on Armenianism is expressed in the acronym Daisy. This stands for Diminished Depravity, where God employs prevenient grace to enable man respond to the gospel. Abrogated Election, where the elect are foreknown by God. Impersonal Atonement, where Salvation is possible for everyone. Sedentary Grace, where grace is available to all but not all avail themselves of it. Yieldable Justification, where the saved can lose their salvation or reject it. I think Armenians feel this is an unduly harsh view of their theology written by Calvinists but it could have been worse to be honest.

For me the biggest issue is that Predestination is in scripture and the both Christ Jesus and the apostle Paul spoke about it. Jesus says this in John 15:19 "If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." From <https://www.openbible.info/topics/predestination> Paul says this in Romans 8:30 "And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified." From <https://www.openbible.info/topics/predestination> So Predestination is supported in scripture.

I guess the reason it never really bothered me in the past other than that the Churches which I attended were not Reformed or Calvinist. Was, I always assumed that Christ died for all who would believe on Him and our part in this process is to take the gospel to the lost. So, as far as I'm concerned nothing has changed. If folks are predestined from the eternity past it doesn't matter to me. I still believe God intends me to share gospel and play my part in seeing people believe on the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.

I think there are some scriptures that back this idea. For instance Jesus told the Parable of the Banquet in Matthew 22 speaks of a King who sent invitations to his wedding banquet but none of the guests wished to attend. So he sent his servants into the streets to invite as many people as they could find to come to the banquet.

I think as a servant of Christ Jesus my job is get out there and share the gospel with as many as I can get it too. By the way the guy that got thrown out of the wedding feast in the parable. He wasn't a Christian so he wasn't clothed in the righteousness of Christ. And the last verse "For many are called but few are chosen." If many are called then the servants of Christ Jesus must be out there assisting God in calling them.

As to who is right about Predestination. I think this is a more heat than light issue. You can get as worked up about it as you like but I don't see it making a great deal of difference to the average Christian. The Great Commission stands as it is. Christ Jesus want us to take the gospel to the nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. So that's what we need to do.

The Ukraine Crisis

In this age of Internet and Conspiracy Theory it is hard to know the truth of the news we receive. When we look at the Ukraine Invasion Crisis. Questions arise like:

 Is Russia incompetent?

 

Is Mr. Putin incompetent?

 

Why is Russia attacking free Ukraine?

 

How can this be happening modern Europe?

 

Why didn't the E.U. admit the Ukraine a long time ago.

 

The answers go:

 

No I don't think Russia is incompetent.

 

No I don't think Mr. Putin is incompetent.

 

They're attacking the Ukraine because ideally Russia want buffer zone between Russian and Europe that they can  control.

 

Europe and the West are playing snakes and ladders at a political level to either weaken Russia or eventually replace Putin and the Oligarchs with a more sympathetic government.

 

There are a number of reasons why the E.U., didn't admit the Ukraine. Economic reasons mostly but Ukraine is an awfully tempting pain in Putin's side so was probably being used to draw Russia into a conflict which will eventually achieve the aims of the West.

 

So what were Russia attempting to gain by invading the Ukraine? I think ultimately Putin knew he couldn't hope to invade and hold the Ukraine. Especially not using conventional weapons and warfare tactics. Admittedly conventional warfare takes terrible toll on civilians in terms of casualties and destruction of property.

I guess Putin could have used the nuclear solution. Bombed several cities or strategic military sites with tactical nukes and followed up with an invasion force. The risks of a Global Nuclear War would have precluded that strategy but must it must have been tempting if you wanted to quickly achieve the surrender of the Ukraine.

 

Another strategy Russia could have employed was to use total air superiority to demolish the Ukraine in much the same way the Coalition forces did with Saddam Hussein's Iraq in the Gulf War. Even if they weren't able to hold the Ukraine it would have been a costly lesson for the West in terms of taking Russia's position seriously.

Which brings us to Russia's actual goals in this conflict. I think  they are using a conventional war approach to achieve the same objectives as the total air superiority of the Americans in the Gulf War. Destroy and demoralize the Ukraine and cause a costly humanitarian crisis for Europe. While strengthening control of the Donbas region and providing a lesson for the West to have more respect Putin's Russia. Perhaps a return to sensible dialogue and effective back doors for bottom line communication is required now as it was in the past.

I know the West and the Western media love to decry the failures of Putin and Russia in 2022 but in reality the man is simply showing how dangerous and damaging war is in this day and age. It is I think fair to say that if

Putin is as incompetent as they say. Then it should be easy for them to manipulate him into following their agenda. The fact that this isn't happening and that he has seen fit to invade the Ukraine. Either indicates that they aren't as smart as they think they are or Putin isn't the fool that the West thinks he is. Perhaps instead he is the legend that many of his supporters believe him to be. One way or the other both sides need to be very considered how they handle this situation or it could easily escalate into World War Three.

If it does the consequences for the peoples of the Earth in general will be catastrophic. The outcome of even a limited clash involving nuclear weapons between smaller nuclear capable nations could result in an end of days scenario for the entire World. This was well known back in the '70's and '80's and led to nuclear non-proliferation treaties between the super powers at the time.

 

Of course there are numerous new weapons that are as dangerous as nuclear weapons available to the super powers of our time. Laser, maser and rail gun technology to name a few of the better known types of new weapons that may turn up in a full scale skirmish today. Environmental damage and the casualties caused in WWIII will probably enormous and in the billions.

 

So allowing this situation to develop between Russia and the West is a failing of politicians to understand the stakes that are on the table. Particularly, if this conflict gets out of hand. This is a time that is fraught with peril in that the message that ended the Cold War seems to have been forgotten. We need to remember that the next world war could easily be the end of humanity.

 

The Lord Jesus spoke of a time in the last days where if that time were not shortened then no flesh would survive (Matthew 24:22). Called the Tribulation and probable including World War Three.
The Prophet Ezekiel spoke a prophecy that many say is of the nation of Russia during the coming tribulation time. One where the Lord spoke to Gog and Magog of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, saying that he would put a hook into his jaw and draw him forth. If these prophecies were applied to Russia and Putin at this time it would seem that he is indeed being drawn forth. The West are not going to give him a choice other than to try to defend his country and his people from the coming World Government.

 

 May be Ukraine is Putin's last stand as he tries to negotiate with the West to allow Russia to stand outside of the coming New World Order. If we follow the bible on this he will be forced to join with the other nations that stand outside of the West but will be defeated by God when he attacks Israel. It would seem that Russia eventually falls and then the 666 Empire is established.  Then there will be period of three and one half years at the end of which Jesus will return and the Kingdom of God will be established.

Cheese

Sin is something that a lot of non Christians don't really understand. Everyone understands right and wrong. There's a kind of inbuilt sense of right and wrong that guides us all to evaluate our actions on the basis of the effects on other's. Even the most hardened criminal that is stuck in their evil ways knows the difference between right and wrong. Essentially, they just ignore the inner voice that tells them that what they are doing is somehow, somewhere just plain wrong.

But maybe not sin. On the other hand we all get a warm fuzzy glow when we do something that is right and good. Like helping an elderly person find their way home or a small child cross a road.

 

So, despite us all having a conscience while living in a world of science and rational thought. A world of spin and different philosophies and perspectives. Different lenses on life in general like humanism, atheism, fascism and communism. Christianity is increasingly pushed to the side, alienated and marginalized. 

 

That is, as a way of viewing good and bad behaviors. Labelled as hate speech even. The problem with this is that only believing in what you can see and empirically prove is all very well. However, if we honestly appraise the world around us we can see that all of creation has a God shaped key. The idea that life evolved by itself doesn't explain the fact that knowledge must be attained and applied. It doesn't just manifest itself as the theory of evolution maintains. It doesn't even make sense to say that it does. So much for rational thinking then.

No, if we're honest we know that what the apostle Paul said in Romans chapter one verses 19 - 20 "For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world.." Is actually indisputable. What God has done is in the open and all around us. We all know at a deeper level that God exists.

Now, those who follow God will tell you that God is one and we are to love him with all of our heart, all of our soul, all of our mind and all of our strength. In doing that we can know through His word that sin is the greatest issue of division between God and man. Since the fall of man with Adam and Eve. Sin has separated us from God and if we don't do something about it that separation will become eternal. 

This is where cheese comes into the mix. You can't run a car on cheese that is made to run on petrol, diesel or electricity. Cheese is not a fuel for any of those types of vehicle. It fuels people but not engines. We know this right? No on tries to run their car on cheese when it runs low on fuel.
 

The same is the case with Salvation. You can't be saved by cheese, inner peace, self fulfillment, obedience to the wrong Gods or anything other than believing on the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. You see God so loved you that he gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, to become a man, live a sinless life and to die on the Cross as a sacrifice for the sins of those who believe on Him. So we are cleansed through the blood of the Savior. Once again Cheese or anything other than belief on Jesus Christ won't win your Salvation.