It seems that believers tack on the phrase “In Jesus name” At the end of most of their prayers. Another thing I hear a lot during prayer is “Father God” over and over again. It seems that many believers think that they need to reaffirm who it is they are praying to exactly or that it is some magic string of words that will cause our prayers to be answered how we like. Over the years I have often wondered why there was a need for repeating such things so much. I felt it was respectful to do so but honestly it felt silly.  So why do so many Christians say “In Jesus name” at the beginning or at the end of their prayers? Many may not even know why but those who do have an answer usually use the following verse as their reasoning behind it:

John 13:14 And whatever you shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son

This is taken way out of context by theologians and church goers all over the world. If I were to pray for a brand new car to appear before me right now and I asked for it in Jesus name everyone would laugh at the lunacy of such a prayer.  Why is that? Do I not believe that God has the capability to make a car appear in front of me? Well He created the universe so I’m sure one car would be an easy enough task. Of course he wouldn’t do that, why should he? It’s easy to laugh off such a thing but the way people pray they are doing little more than what I just suggested with the car. When people pray they treat God like a genie that will grant wishes. Its easy to mock my prayer for a car to instantly appear but what about other things we pray for in life? People pray for health, money, protection, wisdom and all manner of material possessions and they do so in the name of Jesus.  So why do we not get what we want so much of the time? Is it because we are sinners? Because we don’t believe hard enough? Did we not pray in the right way? Why do so many sad things happen when we pray so hard to the point of begging to Jesus, our Savior, to help us.

God knows our hearts and even when we ask for something and our motives are pure and we would give praise to him for giving us what we want that may not be what is good for us ultimately. It may be what we want but not what we need.  So when we pray in Jesus name we need to understand exactly what that means. Did we not just read the verse from John that says whatever we ask in his name Jesus will do? This is either true or Jesus is a liar.  I believe this is 100% true!

I think we get so caught up with calling out to Jesus we sort of forget just what his name ACTUALLY means. There is a lot of power behind his name.  The Pharisees hated Jesus, they knew who he was but they wanted him dead. Jesus came to fulfill the Torah, the first 4 books of the old testament which were given to Moses. Jesus IS the fulfilling of the Torah.  His name in Hebrew is pronounced Yeshua which means “to deliver”. His name represents that which he came here to accomplish, I for one believe that he was totally successful in that plan and while others may disagree with my point of view the meaning of his name is inarguably important. When we pray in his name we are praying in the name of the one who was sent by God to save all of humanity and it is not by the name in and of itself that our prayers are answered but by something else.

When we pray in Jesus name, we are praying by his authority! This is a very important truth. Our prayers are answered only by his authority and not by us. If we pray and it is not in the name of Jesus but only care about fulfilling our wants and desires and do not pray by his will, we will not get what we want. BUT if we pray according to his will then we are getting what we want because it is also what he wants!

James 4: 2-3 you do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”

Even when we FEEL we are praying with pure motives are we really? God does hear our prayers but praying in accordance with God’s will is what is most important. He knows and controls what is going to happen one way or the other but for us it is about humbling ourselves to him and learning righteousness through often times difficult and painful situations.  To trust him regardless of the outcome of any given situation is something that all people struggle with at least at one time or another. When a loved ones dies nobody likes to say it was God’s will that it happened but I don’t know how many people I have heard say the words “God took him to heaven” So is that not God’s will? People don’t even listen to the words they use or say and they end up contradicting themselves all over the place.  God knows our heart and we need to remember that.

I have prayed many times for a better financial situation because I know exactly what I would do with the money I got. I would solve my own financial strain (anyone in our economy can relate to this) and I would give much of it to many people I love or even those I don’t know. I personally am a man who doesn’t like to have many material possessions, I feel weighed down by them, so a minimalist lifestyle is what makes me happiest, it allows me to pick up and go from here to there with ease. I am happy with just a few creature comforts and the rest I like giving to those who need it because I have been helped out many times and I know what it feels like to not have much.  God knows that I would give this money to certain people but perhaps that would not be what is best for me or them right now. 

To recap, the verse in John does not “Speak my name while you pray and it will be given to you” It says to ask IN HIS NAME! Praying by who and what he is, his will and everything he represents is what Jesus is talking about in that scripture! Jesus is the authority by which our prayers are answered.

God Bless

I hear from Christians very often that if we pray for what we desire then our prayers will get answered. If we pray long and hard enough. But does the Bible explicitly state this? Will our prayers be “answered” when we ask for something? Yes. Is it always what our “heart desires” ? No.  What we WANT is not the same as what we NEED. When we pray for things they are most certainly answered but not always in the way we would prefer based on our own carnal mind. 

Romans 8: 7 - Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

I have stated in other posts that the carnal mind does not mean perverted, despotic or evil. The carnal mind is the physical fleshly mind of man. It is the mind that we all possess and making claims that God blesses those who ask for things based on the carnal mind or hearts desires is wrong! As if to tell the world “LOOK AT HOW BLESSED I AM, IF YOU DO WHAT I DO THEN YOU WILL GET THE SAME BECAUSE JESUS IS AMAZING!”

Jesus is amazing, so much so that his will for us is more amazing than any of our desires. Don’t get me wrong here, being thankful is most certainly important but claiming that others just need to do what you did and they will receive the same is simply untrue and the scriptures do not support it. It is not meant that every person receive the same things that another does. How do we do know that? Because it doesn’t happen! The heart of man is deceptive…we want so many things in life but how many of those things are supposed to occur in the order we want if at all? Is it possible for God to find a way? Absolutely! Will he provide that way? Well, not always in the way WE want and that’s the point.

There was one pastor I know of who spoke about the “sins of his youth”. We hear people say that sometimes and he told his congregation, “I admit I was a bit too ambitious when I was younger.” and “I was prideful.”  Wow, that’s just a terrible sin now isn’t it? That’s practically something you could tell a whole lot of people about and not even be embarrassed. Right?

BUT! What this pastor didn’t tell everyone was that he was cheating on his wife with men! No…that couldn’t come out until later when he was caught. Afterwards, he said he prayed and prayed that God would take it away from him, this desire to cheat but he couldn’t stop. All this goes back to the “free will” idea. If this man had free will why couldn’t he FREE WILL himself into not cheating!? If you can answer me that then I will delete my entire page of papers that I have posted and completely concede that free will exists. This man prayed and begged Jesus take away this desire to sin that was in his heart he knew it was wrong! But he didn’t have the spiritual strength to do it! He was a victim of his carnal mind in every possible way. 

It seems so natural for us to be thankful to Jesus when things go our way. People love to tell others how blessed they are but rarely do I hear Christians and especially pastors admit to some embarrassing or difficult situation they have gone through and then proceed to be thankful and praise God for having gone through those tragically, painful, difficulties.  I think I may only know one pastor personally who has openly admitted to extensive drug and alcohol abuse and all manners of sins that he committed. That is not easy to do . God has used him to fulfill his purpose.

My mother is a Jesus loving woman who has been faithful to God her whole life.  10 years ago she was diagnosed with cancer and it forever changed her life. Now let me ask you, do you think it was my mother’s hearts desire to contract stage 3 breast cancer, shave her head, go through chemotherapy and have a mastectomy? All of which by the way held no guarantee that she would survive.  Would anyone desire to go through such a thing? I doubt it.  But lets take it a step further, if she did get cancer, her hearts desire was to be cured of it and to not have to worry about it any longer? Did that happen? No.

She went through months and years of therapy to overcome this deadly disease. So the question is why didn’t God cure her? Now he most certainly provided the way through which she would be cured but why did she ever get it in the first place? She loves Jesus, there is no doubt…so why not get what she wanted?

There is a pastor right now in Iran who is at risk of being killed for his beliefs. He will not renounce his beliefs in Christ or admit that Muhammad is a prophet and so he is sentenced to death. Now most definitely he does not want to die. He has a wife and family…do you think his hearts desire is to leave his family and die for Jesus? Give me a break, nobody WANTS to die for their beliefs but those who firmly believe will do so because its what they believe is right  and because they love Jesus. His hearts desire, despite his faith in Jesus, is to live but there is no assurance, even with his faith and the prayers of thousands, that he will get out of this situation. It is my prayer that he does survive this but if he doesn’t does that mean he just didn’t believe hard enough?!  

That is scriptural, naive nonsense! 

One more example before moving on.  In the Bible, Joseph was put in prison for years for a crime he didn’t commit. Do you think that Joseph wanted to be in prison? Would anyone in their right mind say that is their hearts desire? I’m sure Joseph prayed that God would provide a way for him be set free. Well he did…eventually. He didn’t get what HE wanted right away, it was years of sitting in some stinking prison not having any hope that he would EVER be set free! How much faith did Joseph have? A lot! He would abide, endure and wait patiently and God eventually saved him.

What does the Bible tell us about our hearts desires, our prayers, our will, our wants? Well a number of things but I guarantee you not one verse states that if we pray what WE want will come true. People like to make God into a genie that will grant wishes and if you don’t get what you want then you just didn’t pray, believe, love, etc. hard enough.

The first verse that springs to mind are in Matthew.

Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? 

Now many may say that right there it says “ask and what you want shall be given you” Well hold on just a minute. What shall be given to you, what you want? Wrong.  When we ASK something we get an ANSWER? We are given an answer and not our hearts desire.  It continues by saying: “Seek, and you shall find”  Find what? this is a continuation from the “ask and it shall be given” statement.  You will FIND your ANSWER!  The same goes for knocking and having a door opened. And finally, God knows what the good gifts are…we do not.  

What is the problem with believing that these verses are saying we get what we want if we believe? Because it doesn’t always happen that way! We don’t get what we want from God in the way WE want! If we do get something it is in the way HE wants! We will most definitely ask and receive an answer but that answer isn’t always our hearts desire because we aren’t supposed to ask for our hearts desires to come true but I will get into that later.

 John 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

What we ask in Jesus’ name, he will do. Is that the proof? No…that isn’t the end of the sentence! “that the FATHER may be GLORIFIED in the Son.  So if we ask any thing in Christ’s name, and if what we ask will glorify God only then it will be given to us! If it doesn’t glorify God, through Jesus, its axiomatic that, it will not be given unto us. 

John 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

Again, we must look at what Jesus is saying here. these verses are not saying “ask what you will and it will be done unto you” What does it say before that?  If you ABIDE in me, AND my words abide in YOU! So, if we don’t abide in him and his words don’t abide in us, will we get we ask? Of course not! Do you abide in Christ? What does this word “abide” mean?The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “Abide” as the following:

 1   to wait for : await

An acquaintance of mine said something that was interesting. He told a story that he was discussing the Bible with a friend of his who said “the Bible clearly states…” and then went on to support her claim. 

However, he brought up an excellent point, saying the Bible rarely “clearly” states anything

But without a parable he spoke not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples. (Mark 4:34)  

Now I know people read this and say to themselves that I’m border-lining on heresy by saying this about the Bible. But how much proof do you need?

The Calvinists vs. the Armenians
The pre, mid and post millenial-ists
Seventh Day worshipers vs. Sunday worshipers
Jews/those who hold to Biblical OT laws vs. protestant
Literal Hell vs. Greek meaning of hell/hades/unseen
Security of the believer vs. Non-security
Trans-substantiation of the Lord’s body vs. symbolism communion
Confessing to a priest vs. Praying directly to God
Translators disagreeing over “eon’/eonian vs. eternal/everlasting
Sprinkling/infant baptism vs. immersion after knowledgeable salvation

And these people sincerely believe these things. So who is right? I’m not saying all or most are wrong and I AM right, that isn’t what this is about. In fact some of my beliefs are thrown into that list. The point I’m making is that the Bible does not “clearly state” anything. If this were the case then there would be no disagreements.

Matthew 13:10 “And the disciples came and said unto Him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”
13. “Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they DO NOT see, and hearing they DO NOT hear, NOR do they understand.”
14-(Repeats Prophecy of Isaiah)
15. “For the hearts of this people have grown dull. There ears are hard of hearing and their eyes they have closed, LEST they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears. LEST they should understand with their hearts and turn, SO THAT I SHOULD HEAL THEM.”

God inspired the writing of the Bible in such a manner that it would NOT be understood by everyone. If it were understood by everyone there wouldn’t be an array of different conclusions! God will be the one to reveal things when he chooses. 

I’m not going to tell you that I know all the answers, the truth is I don’t! But i do understand the fundamental plan of our God and if you understand that and do not deviate from that main truth, whatsoever, then you can understand more than you can imagine.

What is that truth?  We, all of mankind, were not made (past tense) in his image…He is making (aorist tense) us in his image.

If you base your belief on that then you will know that his perfect will is playing out just as he wants and that nothing, including the will of man, will EVER detract that plan. If you believe he made us, and is done…well, then there is no hope for all of his children who he claims to love.

God did not LOVE (past tense) the world so much he gave his only begotten son but he is LOVING (aorist tense) us so much that he gave his only begotten son! most bibles wont translate that. It is past, present and future tense..it is important to know that he was, is and ALWAYS will be. God says he doesn’t change, so he loves us now and he isn’t done with us yet!

So, does the Bible make sense to everyone? Of course not! It isn’t meant to be understood by everyone! Its nonsense to say that. Millions upon millions upon MILLIONS of people have debated the truths of our scriptures…if it was were so easy to understand, then why doesn’t everyone understand it all? 

Because he doesn’t want everyone to understand it all…

yet…  ;)

God Bless

Written for a kind and patient friend who has gone through a lot the last year, she has inspired me to write this and she has embodied how a child can still respect their parents regardless of the difficulties she may face by their often times unloving nature.

Since the dawn of parenthood, there have been those who become parents without really thinking it through. I assume that many people would wonder what kind of parent they would be but that may be too presumptuous. I have seen many people who are good parents but yet I have seen so many more who, in all honesty, really aren’t fit for parenting. They judge, manipulate, control, guilt, talk down to, and just overall believe that the person they brought into this world is a creature meant to do, essentially, whatever they tell them to do, often times regardless of how old they become.  Their unreasonable and selfish attitude is hurtful to their children, especially as they get older into their teens, twenties, or older. As a matter of fact many children are subjected to their parents irrational behaviors their entire lives. 

We are told to honor our father and mother but what is honor? Is honor actually just doing whatever they say at all times? Is honor not going against their wishes or commands?

I’m not questioning whether we should honor our parents but like most things taught in the carnal world of Christianity, its quite apparent that this definition of “honor” is most likely askew. I see countless people who believe that JUST because they are the parents they believe that “might makes right” and then claim to be Christian…what UnGodly and unloving character.  Why should one automatically trust, respect, or do whatever a parent says when they do not act honorable. I see parents make arguments such as “I brought you into this world so you better do what I say“…how cruel. Not one single solitary person had anything to do with their own creation. I know I didn’t ask to be created. I was thrust against my will into a physical universe due to my parents conceiving me…how is that my responsibility, choice or will? It isn’t.

I have had friends who’s parents are for the most part, despite their imperfections, reasonable and kind people. No one is perfect and all parents will do things that may negatively affect their kids, at least in a small way. But parents really aren’t all that better than children themselves. In the grand scheme of things in this universe a 30 year difference in age isn’t going to make you extremely wise, it just hopefully makes you wiser than the child you brought into the world. God calls us his children? Why? Because he treats us as children. Even those wrinkly people who make it to 100 years old, they are children. It doesn’t matter what our perception is, to God no matter how old you are, how wise you may seem you are still just children. We really don’t know all that much at all.

So should children always do what their parents tell them to do? No…this is not what the Scriptures command. So, what is honor according to the Jewish people and in what manner should we apply this today?

What is honor? People often times want to keep their honor but what I have found as a martial artist, which is my profession incidentally, is that people don’t know what honor really is.

What is the dictionary definition of honor?

People confuse two concepts: “honor” and “face”.  I’m sure most have heard of “saving face” but what is that? According to the first definition of honor we see it says “good name or public esteem: reputation” Well I can tell you right now that “face” or ones’ reputation is not honor or vise versa. Yet again we see the English dictionary has little understanding of these matters, the proof is in the combined definitions. Ones’ “reputation” and “showing respect” are NOT at all the same thing! 

Face is what you are in front of people. Losing face can be costly in terms of many professional and personal matters, if someone doubts your abilities, ruins your reputation, talks badly about you…that could mean losing face in regards to other people. And while “face” has its place and is important in its own way, doing what is right will always supersede reputation, or at least it should. If a child is doing something a parent disapproves of the parent needs to think weather they are actually concerned about their kid’s well being or is it because they are afraid of what others may think? Usually issues of this type do not begin until the teenage years.  If the parent is concerned about social perception then the are concerned with “face” and not honor.

Because when it comes to family, reputation is not what is important…doing what is right, just, fair, loving and kind is what’s most important and that often times may result in losing face in the eyes of others. Doing what is right often times comes with a price and that may mean sacrificing your own selfishness for the betterment of the child you are raising and the same goes for children and their parents. 

Honor is something that people seem to throw around.. you dishonored me, you dishonored our family, etc. but they are still confusing honor with face. 

The Hebrew word for “honor” is “kabad” 

Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance defines Kabad:

to be heavy, weighty, or burdensome, abounding with, more grievously afflict, boast, be chargeable, be dim

There are some pretty powerful words to define this idea of “kabad”… look at these descriptions. It almost sounds negative but thats not true, just because something is difficult doesn’t make it bad. The idea of Hebrew honor, like many ancient cultures, centers around the family…nothing was more important. Were there children who disagreed with their parents and went against their wishes, yes!  But they honored them. How?

The very nature of having parents is like being weighed down or burdened at times, but this is not negative, its just a lot to take on. Parents could say the same of their children, they are weighed down by their children.  Another word for this is “obligation”.  Becoming obligated to someone can be wonderful or terrible. Allowing yourself to be obligated to people who have bad character, are selfish, or dishonest will cause trouble but being obligated to a kind, fair and good person, while still difficult reaps rewards! The very nature of honor is to be obligated in a righteous and true fashion and to strive to do that which is right! Even if it means sacrificing one’s own petty ideals for the betterment of someone else that you care for enough to be obligated to them. Being cruel towards parents who are already cruel is not the way to honor them.

Parents you have an obligation to your children to look deep inside yourself and ask if you plan on being what the bible defines love as.

 1 Cor. 13: 4-7 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does NOT DISHONOR others, it is NOT SELF-SEEKING, it is NOT EASILY ANGERED, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but REJOICES WITH THE TRUTH. ⁷ It ALWAYS protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 

This definition of love sure sounds honorable to me. Parents, do you fit this description? Are you capable of raising a child with this honorable, loving, responsible, unselfish, Godly mindset? If not I pray that God will release the hardness from your hearts that causes you to treat your children like “things” that are not deserving of privacy, respect and honor of their own. You want those things, so give it in return.

As for children, I did not grow up in a home with unloving, un-trusting, unreasonable and selfish parents. By all accounts they loved me as a child and as I grew up they allowed me to live my life. This is not to say they don’t chime in when concerned for me but this is natural of parenthood and can be positive. To my mother I will always be her child and in a large way I like knowing she loves me. However, even though she has gotten upset with choices I have made or disapproved she never imposed her will on me when I became an adult.

So, I do not know what it is like to grow up with parents who are cold and selfish…but my mother does, and my father does, and at least a dozen other friends I’ve been close to over the years, they know. I have seen these young adults try to reason with parents who do not care to be reasoned with, parents of this ilk want to be right even if it means being cruel and hurtful. So how can a child honor someone who is like this? It is very possible I can assure you!

We have people in our lives, some come and go and some stay as long as we live. For most of us, our parents are an integral part of our lives for decades upon decades. We did not have a choice in who our parents are, but we can still honor them. Even if they are abusive verbally, emotionally, physically, etc. However, that does not mean we must subject ourselves to a life of being treated in such a manner. Its difficult to say goodbye to someone, especially a parent or to remove yourself from a life with them but when we grow up and get married and want a family of our own we have to consider what is good for our own children. If our parents are cruel, selfish, unloving, and making us feel guilty all of the time even if we have not done anything wrong we must honorably remove ourselves from their lives. This is for the sake of our happiness, our future family’s happiness. We can always respect and honor them by not doing or saying bad or unloving things but that doesn’t mean we have to put ourselves in a bad situation.

For whatever reasons, they are the way that they are and it isn’t for us as children to change them any more than they have a right to change us. Selfish parents act thinking they are doing what is good, but if they were to think about the definition of given by scripture they would see that they are not fulfilling what they are commanded to do. 

Honor is a tricky thing. We must not become obligated to dishonorable people, even if that is our parents and we may end up severing the chord of a relationship with them. However we can always honor them by acting in the very manner God has commanded us…

To love… no matter what they may act like, we can always still love and pray for them. This will in turn make us better parents than they were capable of because love begets more love and our future children will learn this lesson. Being fair, just, reasonable, kind and loving will make someone a better person and a decent parent.

All people will eventually be saved. God works in terms of ages. There isn’t just this life and then eternity. It is appointed for man once to die and then the judgment but judgment is not eternal or everlasting. It has a purpose. It is to refine and destroy sin not the person. So those people who did not believe in this will still yet believe. Because every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. 

And what must people do in order to be saved? Believe in Jesus! If every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Christ and thats what it takes to be saved then it must be that all will be saved. Feel free to read any of my other papers. I explain things in better detail there. I hope this helped in some small way my friend. 

God bless!

It is taught the world over we are responsible for our own salvation, that we free will ourselves into avoiding hell and being reconciled unto God but the scriptures speak nothing of the sort. Can we make the choice to believe in Jesus? Of course we can, however, choices and preferences are not free. There is always a cause for every choice we make that influenced us and caused us to do so based on who and what we are. We do not just pull things out of nowhere and decide to do them. We do not have the ability to make any choice based on nothingness. It isn’t possible.  

The Merriam-Websters Dictionary defines free will as the ability to make choices not determined by ANYTHING including divine intervention (God).

• God doesn’t determine or influence anything?
• Your friends don’t determine anything?
• Your upbringing or where you were born doesn’t determine anything?
• The way your parents raised you didn’t determine anything?

Nonsense…

If God is able to influence even one tiny aspect of our life it means free will does not exist. Everything has a cause my friends, right down to the tiniest of our decisions, none of them are free of their accord and come from nothing. Go to my paper called “Free Will Is A Fraud”  to learn more about that but for now lets stick to the topic of our salvation specifically.

There was a man in the Bible who was on his way to Damascus, to persecute and stone Christians. His name was Saul, and while on the road to Damascus he was suddenly struck blind! BAM! He fell flat on his face!

“trembling and astonished said, ‘Lord what will YOU have me to do?”

He knew right away that it was the Lord and he was converted in mere seconds! Now let me ask, what do you think was on Saul’s schedule for the day? Did he want to be converted into serving Christ? NO! He wanted to go to Damascus and persecute Christians! The power of the Lord struck him to the ground and the man was trembling at the glory of Jesus!

Now do you think that Saul’s conversion was any less significant because God caused it to happen? Do you think that in the wake of being blinded, struck to the ground and having Jesus himself appear to him he would have decided anything other than serving him? Do you think God would have done that thinking there would have only been a 50/50 chance of Saul’s conversion or 100% certainty? God knew for a fact that this man, who had no intention of ever serving Jesus Christ, would instantaneously serve him if he caused it to happen!

Saul, who became Paul, said that he was the worst sinner of all!

1 Tim.1:15 - Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save SINNERS —of whom I am the worst.

If it took God mere seconds to convert Paul, who says he was the WORST sinner, would it really be that difficult to convince the whole world into believing in him? Did you notice something else in that verse? “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” Who are sinners? EVERYONE! Do you know one person who is not a sinner? I don’t. So if you are a sinner or have ever sinned he came to save you. But will he be successful? 

So the question arises, Does God force us or scare or terrify us into loving him?  

Rom. 2:4 “Or despise thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the GOODNESS of God leads thee to repentance?” 

So what leads us to repentance? the GOODNESS of God! Does it say that we lead ourselves to repentance? Obviously not. So what other verses in scripture attest to God being the one and only one responsible for our salvation? 

“No man CAN come to Me except the Father draw him” (John 6:44)

 And he said, “This is why I told you that NO ONE can come to me UNLESS the Father has ENABLED HIM.” (John 6:65)

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that NOT of yourselves; it is the gift of GOD” (Eph. 2:8)

“For we are His [God’s, not our] workmanship [Gk: ‘achievement’] created in Christ Jesus…” (Eph. 2:10)

“Of His Own will begat He us[Not by our nonexistent ’free will,’ but by God’s will!] with the word of truth…” (James 1:18)

“Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor or the will of man, but of [the will of] GOD” (John 1:13)

“What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31)

I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends NOT on human will or exertion, BUT ON GOD, who has mercy (Rom 9: 15,16)

“Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and those in earth, and those under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father“ (Phil. 2:9-11)

 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that NO MAN can say Jesus is the Lord, BUT [except, only, no other way] by the Holy Ghost (1 Cor. 12:3)

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And THIS IS NOT YOUR OWN DOING; it is the gift of God, NOT a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Eph. 2:8-9)

 I could continue but how many verses do we need before accepting the fact that we are not responsible for our own salvation? Christianity teaches that WE are the ones who determine our eternal destiny but apparently Paul, James, John and even Jesus himself say otherwise. If Jesus were to come into the massive mega churches of today they would throw him out on the street for preaching this! They twist and manipulate the scriptures  into quaint sayings that don’t really mean what they  do.

I don’t know how many times I have heard “Well, it needs to be in the proper context.” What context?! Is there an organization, a book, a committee that determines what the context is?

God is only love, IN CONTEXT?

He can only save everyone, IN CONTEXT?

God is responsible for when we get saved, IN CONTEXT?

Jesus is the savior of the world, IN CONTEXT!? 

It is blasphemous pagan nonsense to think God is so weak and helpless he can’t determine a single thing in this unless its in context! Man wants to ultimately be responsible for his own salvation because of his carnal mind but it is because of this very carnal mind that we are unable to do so. We have a heart that goes against God but he made us that way specifically knowing that we would resist his will but has any man been able to subvert that will or change God’s plans? No! 

For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind [the natural mind that we all possess] is enmity against God [hates God]: for it is NOT subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be [it can not be made subject]. (Rom. 8: 6-7)

You can not come to God with the mind you posses on your own! If you believe in Christ it is through Him and ONLY through Him that you do believe it. Because man is not righteous of his own accord!

as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; (Rom. 3:10)

How many people are righteous? It says it right there.  NO, NOT ONE!  How can someone who is not righteous do that which it righteous? 

And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. (Luke 18:19)

Jesus said that no one is good except for God! If Jesus, the one man who was without sin, was not good what makes anyone else think they can come to God with out his say so? 

The word of God does not contradict but theologians and scholars the world over with multiple doctors degrees contradict these basic truths all over the place! Who was the very man who challenged the Pharisees? A carpenter challenged the most holy and respect individuals in all of Jerusalem! Who was he to challenge them? NOBODY! Which was exactly the point of it all! Jesus did to them what he did to Saul, he struck them down from their pedestals with knowledge of the truth! And they hated him for it. They want him dead all costs!

I am certainly not Jesus by any fathomable, comprehensible definition but Matthew was a tax collector, Peter was a fisherman and Paul was a deserter of the synagogue! These were nobodies in the world man but it’s because of God and his masterful planning that he gets what he wants. What he wants is for all to be reconciled unto him. He does not love sinners but he can remedy that in due time because of his love. He does not love us as we are but what he will make us to be. Through his goodness we will be saved but countless people do not know it. One more time here is Romans 2:4 one more time -

“Or despise thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering [patience]; not knowing that the GOODNESS of God leads thee [YOU] to repentance?” 

His goodness is what causes everything to happen my friends. If you sin then God is the one to take it away, you don’t get rid of it yourself. If you love God, its because of his goodness and not because of you. And honestly, what a relief that should be. You can focus on serving him and he will mold you into what he has planned. The ridding of our sinful nature is a constant process that many people struggle with but the moment you realize that it’s all up to God and not you then you can focus on him. He will put the correct people in your life, he will guide you in the manner he wants, and for some it isn’t for them to overcome certain sins. Even Paul struggled! 

 Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. ⁹ And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”  (2 Cor. 12 7-9)

Is it important what this thorn was specifically? Not for this papers’ purposes but what is important is what God told Paul when he asked to remove the thorn which was: ” My grace is sufficient, for power is perfected in weakness.”  God doesn’t change, so why would you, me or anyone else be any different? There are things I know I will struggle with throughout life and it would be nice if God could just take it all away but his will would not be served if we always got what we wanted. His love will come through for all people. Sin and death will be destroyed in the lake of fire eventually. Take comfort in knowing that things are as they should be and he is in control.

God Bless 

Well hello all you people who have been following my page for the last several months. Its been a long time and admittedly nothing new has poured from my fingertips onto this old keyboard but I assure you that I will be planning to write new stuff. 

A lot has changed over the last few months and God has been there for me. So with that said after the Christmas season I will be attempting some more material as well as expect a paper about Christmas itself. Don’t want to say too much about it right now but I’m diving into the heart of the matter and discussing what is actually scriptural concerning the birth of Jesus and what is not. Expect that in the next week or so, Lord willing.

As for myself I’ve been recovering from a knee injury I sustained while training. For those who don’t know my profession is as a martial arts instructor. But injuries heal and life goes on, right? So with that said I hope everyone is having a great month and I look forward to hearing from you soon! God bless! 

Matt,

I’ve sat back for about two days thinking about whether or not I should respond to your comments, for three reasons:

1) Will this be profitable for you and those who see this?
2) What are my motives in responding to this?
3) Am I throwing pearls before swine (so to speak)?

You have clearly in all that you have said chosen to chose scriptures you like to prove your point. You have also accused God of being a monster because he would punish those who clearly reject him. People can read your response and see this, with discernment, that you reject the God of the Bible and follow after your own idea of who God is.

God is loving. He sent Christ Jesus to die on the cross for those who would believe. But if you cannot first recognize that God is wrathful…that He is so holy he CANNOT be light on sin…or sinners…then I doubt you know anything about the love of God. With all due respect, what you believe is damnable and exactly what the Church in history would say is “anathema”.  If you can’t believe in God to be good in punishing those who defy him…because he has stayed true to who he says he is…then I am not encouraged at all that you know the God of the Bible.

I’m hoping that you will examine yourself and your doctrine and repent of this. But if you do not, I will not flatter you: you will be brought to account before God about these false claims.

<3

————————————————————

Venchenny, you are always welcome to voice your opinion and should not hesitate do so. I started this page so people could pose questions and say what they want, as long as it’s in a respectful manner of course. So next time don’t hesitate, unless you are just thinking of what you would like to say, which is something I have to do a lot. I’m certainly no genius writer.

You say I have picked a chosen scriptures. In what way have I done this? Can you give an example? Perhaps you should study and pray for yourself and not just believe what you have been taught. I know it is difficult when the guidelines for study have been what the bulk of the Christian world has presented to us but I would encourage you and others to read my papers on hell and free will before you make a judgment on me. I have never called God a monster and I most certainly do not believe that our God is a monster in the least.

 I have never said that  unrepentant sinners will not be judged. I believe they will. The words used are not “punished” but judgment. I do not know exactly the kind of judgment God has in mind, but the interpretation of of judgment indicates a test, a purpose to bring about a certain result..it is not eternal judgment. It will cause those who have sinned to kneel and confess to God’s glory and power!

It makes you angry when I say that the God that you and others believe in is made out to be monster because you believe that most of humanity will be tortured in real fire for the rest of eternity and you believe that is justice.

Like I said read my papers on hell and pray on these things that God would reveal to you his truths.  You have been raised to believe certain things and you don’t want to give up those beliefs without a fight, I understand it because I did believe these same doctrines that you do for many years until I began to study for myself and pray. And because of that, God has shown many things about his spirit and purpose for humanity. I am very thankful for that.

God Bless,

Matt

God causes people to be blinded to the truth. He hardens their hearts and confounds the wise so they do not comprehend. It isn’t because of judgment that people are unable to believe, it’s because of God’s plan and purpose.

The bible says it is appointed for man once to die AND THEN THE JUDGMENT. We are not judged until after the resurrection.  I assume that you mean original sin, The whole Adam and Eve situation when you say judgment? Correct me if I’m wrong though.  If I am correct then what happened with Adam and Eve was something that was meant to happen. They were not perfect and were created being able to sin from the very beginning so God has not judged anyone yet. What happened to Adam and Even were the consequences for their sin but it was not judgment.

Jesus said that when he returns “will he find much faith?” This was a rhetorical question, the answer is that he will NOT find much faith. There aren’t millions upon millions of people who currently believe and follow in the ways of Jesus, people say they do but the truth is most do not BUT this does not mean that everyone will not be saved.

Romans 11:8  “GOD gives them a spirit of stupor, eyes not to be observing, and ears not to be hearing, till this very day.”

So if God does this to people it begs the question, why would their eternal destinies be their fault? The scriptures do not contradict themselves.  If 1 timothy says “God will have all men to be saved” then we must see that as fact and if it says that God is responsible for hardening and blinding people’s hearts then we must also accept that as fact.  Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess to the glory and power of God, so that means everyone will believe eventually. However, for his purpose to to be met right now, for his plan, many people are blinded and confounded to where they can not understand but that doesn’t mean they won’t be saved, it means just the opposite.

God loves everyone and is fully capable of saving his creation. We are going through a process right now and those who do not believe will eventually believe at the judgment and through that judgment will they learn the error of their ways and believe in Christ. The judgment is anything but an eternal decision, there is a purpose behind it.

I hope this helps in some way, please write back if you want me to elaborate. I know this response isn’t especially well written or extensive. Have a good day!

In part 2 of “Is Hell Real?” I discussed the parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man, explaining how it does not make any sense if taken literally and not only that but it contradicts many other scriptures. However, if this is interpreted as it is meant to be, as a parable, then it takes on a meaning completely different than what is actually being said. As stated in part 2, parables will never mean what they are actually saying. Parables can never be interpreted literally because it will simply carry little spiritual significance or it will cause confusion. But this is the very reason Christ spoke in such a way, for the very purpose of confounding the wise! Only certain people will be able to comprehend and accept the truth of Christ’s parables because certainly even after explaining all that I will in this edition of “Is Hell Real?” some will see the truth in what is written and others will still refuse to accept it regardless of how much proof that is provided.

I will be discussing the meaning of the parable here. There better explanations that what I will provide but I will hit all the key points and provide scripture to back it up to substantiate it’s true meaning.

So what is Lazarus and the Rich Man REALLY talking about? Is it talking about a torture chamber for human souls that lasts for all eternity or something else? Well be prepared to learn the truth about that which Jesus was speaking…

                                          WHO IS THE RICH MAN?

I suppose I could just come out and say who it is but that wouldn’t be any fun and furthermore unless I provide proof then it doesn’t help to just blurt it out now does it? However, one may also ask how can you even tell who this rich man is? Well, lets first see what information is given about him and then we can go from there.

1. a certain rich man
2. clothed in purple and fine linen
3. he called Abraham his father
4. he had five brothers

So with these 4 things how can we determine who he was? In regards to his status, we see of course he was indeed rich but how rich? Rich enough to be clothed in purple and fine linen. But what does it matter what he wore? If this parable is taken literally then what this person wears is of little consequence, Jesus might as well have said he wore yellow or green but if it’s taken as symbolic it carries a lot of weight. Purple was not a common color, in fact it was VERY rare and only the richest people had it. All those pictures we see of Mary or Jesus wearing blue is highly unlikely because I guarantee a carpenter could never afford such things.

The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary says this:

“The wearing of purple was associated particularly with royalty…” (purple, p.863)

 So who wore purple? Royalty! Purple was worn by Kings (Judges 8:26). Even the Roman emperors wore purple. This was not something just anyone could wear. Jesus was speaking to his disciples when he told this parable and it carried special significance to them because they were Jews and who was royalty among the Jews?

There is just one person that fits description of the rich man.

JUDAH!

Who exactly was Judah? Well, Judah wasn’t just a person, it was also the tribe of Israel which reigned! Israel as a whole was very rich! It was exceedingly wealthy and prosperous. Judah wasn’t only wealthy because of it’s material possessions but because of God choosing them:

Rom. 3:2 “For first, indeed, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God“ 

The kings of Judah had so much wealth it was mind boggling and not only did they have material wealth but God had chosen the tribe of Judah to be the way the Savior of the world would come! David was of the Tribe of Judah and was anointed King of Judah. Jesus was of the line of Judah (Mat. 1:2), and will be not only King of Judah, but King of Kings over all the world! Amazing isn’t it?

It also states that the rich man wore “fine linen” well who was it that wore fine linen?

New Bible Dictionary says:

“The use of linen in OT times was prescribed for priests (Ex. 28:39). The coat, turban and girdle must be of fine linen.” (“Linen,” p. 702). 

So the rich man wore two types of clothing, one that was only for royalty one meant only for priests! So he was rich and a priest? Well this metaphorical rich man was not since that is not possible for a person to be a king and a priest, unless they are Jesus himself BUT the land of Judah had both wealth and the priesthood.

Ezra 1:3 “Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites … God had raised, to go up to build the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem.”

There’s your proof! Judah had the tribe of Benjamin, the priests, and the Levites all in their camp! All of these people became what are known as “Jews”. They were all under the same “umbrella” together.

                                      WHO IS “FATHER ABRAHAM”?

Is it any surprise that Judah (the rich man) would call Abraham Father? For it was out of Abraham that Judah came into existence! The individual known as Judah was in fact Abraham’s great grandson! Because of this Abraham could legitimately call the rich man “child”.

                                   WHO ARE THE FIVE BROTHERS?

Who are these five brothers that are spoken about? Judah all in all had eleven other brothers but they were not all by the same mother. Leah, Judah’s mother had six children.

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulun and then Judah is the sixth. Who had five brothers? Judah!  Judah is being personified through this “rich man”.

                                             WHO IS LAZARUS?

Besides being portrayed as a beggar, who is this Lazarus? Is he actually a person? Throughout this parable we have seen Abraham, Moses and the prophets mentioned and undoubtedly it really is speaking of these people. They would be the exception of what is taken literally in this story, for they are who they are said to be. But Lazarus is another issue altogether.

The name Lazarus, in the Hebrew language is pronounced “Eleazar”

 ”EL” = God and “AZAR” = helped

So the name Eleazar (Lazarus) actually means “God has Helped”.

In this parable, Lazarus is said to be “laid at the gate” of the rich man (Luke 16:20).  There is only one person that fits the description of the Eleazar and he is actually in relation to a story involving Abraham himself! Abraham’s chief steward named Eleazar (Lazarus) was a Gentile (someone not a part of the line of Abraham) but was still very loyal person to Abraham and to God.

Genesis 15:2-3 

“And Abram said, ‘Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eleazar [Lazarus] of Damascus and lo, one born in my house is mine heir.’” 

Eleazar (Lazarus) was due to inherit all that Abraham had but God had other plans. When Isaac was born Abraham asked Eleazar to promise before God that he would not do anything to prevent Isaac from inheriting Abraham’s wealth. This meant that Eleazar essentially relinquished the rights to all that Abraham had. Every step Eleazar took to help Isaac meant one step closer to his own disinheritance. When all was said and done Eleazar, the Gentile, had nothing. With this information, who and what this “Lazarus” actually is starts to become apparent…

Is it just a coincidence that Christ gave the beggar of the parable the name Eleazar? The same name of the Chief steward of Abraham? If one wants to say this is a coincidence then they are certainly making a stretch to ignore a great truth. When we discussed who the rich man was we found he was actually a whole tribe of people, Judah. The same is discovered of this person, Lazarus. What group of people is it that is said to be “laid at the gate” begging and wanting to be part of the metaphorical feast of the Jews?

THE GENTILES!

The Gentiles were anyone who believed in the God of Abraham, our God, but were not allowed to be part of the tribe of Judah! In fact, Jews were not allowed to drink from the same cups or bowls of anyone who was not a Jew. Even if a Gentile so much as touched their clothing it was to be thrown away or the part that was touched to be cut off. The Gentiles were the ones “laid at the gate”!

In Luke 4, Jesus taught about the Gentiles, how that in the days of Elijah, the Jews were plagued by famine for over three years but God did not have Elijah help them. Instead he sent Elijah unto the lepers, and a widow named Serapta. Jesus was almost killed for this sermon because he was telling the pharisees and people of the synagogue that God loved these other people just as much as Jews.

The centurion, the Samaritan woman by the well, and all the people in the cities surrounding Jerusalem were filled with people who believed in God but they were NEVER allowed at the same table (figuratively and literally) as the Jews! As the tribe of Judah, the RICH MAN! They were always begging for the scraps!

Lazarus’s name means “God Has Helped” but will the Gentiles be welcomed into God’s arms? Will God save all the Gentiles as Jesus foretold? Yes! The Jews and of course the Gentiles! This parable is not talking about the destruction of anyone, it is speaking about the salvation of the Gentiles, about us! That God’s plan has been in existence always, even since Abraham. The church would like to make this story about literal hell, fire, and eternal punishment but its about the exact opposite! Even though God had chosen the tribe of Judah as the way for our Savior to come into the world, he did not forget about the rest of the people of the world.

Its about the salvation of everyone!

 Eph. 2:13-18 

“Yet now, in Christ Jesus, you [Gentiles], who once are far off are become near by the blood of Christ. For He is our Peace, Who makes both one, and razes the central wall of the barrier [middle wall of partition] … He brings the evangel of peace to you [Gentiles] … for through Him we both [Jews and Gentiles] have had the access, in one spirit to the Father” 

Lazarus is the figurative incarnation of all the people of the world who are not Jews! But does that mean the Jews will burn in hell? Of course not, this is still all figurative language.

                                     WHAT IS THE “GREAT GULF”? 

Luke 16:26

“a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence” 

Identifying what this “great gulf” is takes a certain amount of poetic imagery. If interpreted literally then there is an actual body of water between heaven and hell and people can talk to one another between the two. Hearing people suffering in hell doesn’t sound like a very enjoyable heaven to me. It’s frustrating when at at a restaurant and a baby is crying across the room…could you imagine trying to enjoy the splendors of heaven and hearing millions upon millions of people screaming and crying out in agony? At any rate we need to take into account the symbolism of crossing water to see what this great gulf actually is.

Moses and the Jews crossed the Red Sea and I’m sure many of you have heard the expression “crossing the Jordan” as an example of going from somewhere bad to somewhere good. Moses was prevented from crossing into the promised land for his own sin. The Jews were not allowed to go into the promised land for many years.

The idea of water being a preventative measure for going from one place to another has always been in existence and not just for the Jews but for many cultures, however, for the Jews listening to this parable it carries a lot of weight. God is always the one the to determine boundaries and this is exactly what this great gulf represents. Not a literal physical boundary but a spiritual one.

Israel looked at the Jordan as something so close and yet so far. The promised land was right there and yet they were not allowed to cross it for so many years. This gulf, this “chasm”  is something that man can not pass between but God is not restricted by anything. In part one I discussed that “Sheol” means “the grave” and in part two that “Hades” means “the unseen”. Neither one of these describes a place of punishment but instead a state of restriction. But Jesus Christ holds the keys to “the unseen” and death! No one who has died will experience life again until the resurrection on the last day!

Jesus says he has those keys but what is the point of having the keys if he will not use them? The truth is that he WILL use them and all will be resurrected because of his amazing sacrifice at the cross!

Heb. 8:8-10

 ”…I will make a NEW Covenant with the house of Israel, and the house of Judah…For this is the Covenant that I WILL MAKE [future tense] with the house of Israel AFTER THOSE DAYS [those days of blindness], saith the Lord; I will put my Laws INTO THEIR MINDS, AND WRITE THEM IN THEIR HEARTS; and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people”  

                    WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE RICH MAN (JUDAH)?

I asked if this all means the Gentiles will be saved but the Jews will be suffering forever in hell? The short answer is a resounding NO! The Jews, the tribe of Judah, has been and is still part of God’s great plan!

Jesus said this in the parable

”..neither will they be persuaded if someone should be rising from among the dead.” 

When a person is blind they can’t see but the Christian world tells us that a blind person can see! Not physically, of course, but spiritually very much so. They believe that if we talk to someone in a certain way, if we persist, if we provide enough answers to all of their questions, explain the scriptures just right then we can actually bring people to Christ. All the miracles and proof in all the world would never be enough for someone who’s heart is closed! Only God himself can open a persons heart to his truths! This is what the scriptures say time and time again but does majority of churches in this world teach such a concept? NO!

WE are incapable of saving anyone. Sure a person would like to be responsible for helping someone reach salvation but that is not the way it works. Jesus said that even if a person were to come back from the dead they still would not believe! Why? Because they are spiritually blind!

Jesus brought Lazarus (his friend not the one in this parable) back to life and the Jews still wouldn’t believe in him! They still wanted him dead! Why? Because he did it on a Sabbath! A man was brought back to life in front of their very eyes but they are concerned with the day of the week the miracle was performed on?! How blind could people be? Well, pretty darn blind.

The Jews are blinded by God for a reason but that does not mean that the millions of Jewish for the last 2,000 years who do not believe in Christ are going to be sent to some horrible torture chamber called hell!

Romans 9:25 

“I shall be calling those who are not My people [Gentiles] ‘My people,’” 

So God will call all those who are not his people. So not only will his people (the Jews) be saved but all those who are not Jews! How awesome and amazing is that? God is the one who has blinded their hearts so they will not understand and he does that to people all the time. A person can not be convinced of anything in their heart unless God allows them to see it! As the saying goes “a man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.”

I do not have delusions that this series of papers I have written will convince or bring anyone to Christ unless it is God who does it! I write this because I feel that HE wants me to and if someone gets something out of it then praise Jesus and not me because he is the one who let’s you see his truths!

One more verse before I move on if you have any doubt that is God who has blinded the Jewish people from believe in Jesus then here you go:

Romans 11:8

“GOD gives them a spirit of stupor, eyes not to be observing, and ears not to be hearing, till this very day.”

There it is…do you need any more proof that God is the one who causes people do see or not to see? Where is the free will in this verse?  How could anyone claim that free will exists and still believe in this verse of the Bible? It’s impossible! God dictates everything that has and will happen! What is the point in believe in an all powerful God if he is so weak that he can not control his own creation let alone determine the final outcomes what will is prophesied to happen?

Where is your free will if God has given you a spirit of stupor, eyes that do not see, and ears that will not hear? To this very day no less! The answer is that you don’t have it! So why would God send his own people whom he chose as oracles and the  lineage of whom his very own son came through to burn in a place of literal fire? Its beyond ridiculous! God will open their hearts someday but “to this very day” they can not see. If God can at any point cause you to do anything you DO NOT HAVE FREE WILL.

If you want to know more then go to my paper called “Free Will Is A Fraud”

                                      WHAT’S THE FINAL CONCLUSION? 

This parable has been twisted around and misinterpreted for years and years. I myself use to believe that this was literal but God has opened my eyes to many truths over the last year or so and I feel blessed because of it. Instead of a literal story of pain and suffering we have a painted picture of redemption and the eventual salvation of the Gentiles.

While this paper on Lazarus and the Rich Man is not exhaustive by any extent (undoubtedly a whole book could be written about it) it is my hope that you will have gleamed a new understanding and it will help to further your journey into the truths of Jesus Christ and his plan for salvation of all humanity.

PART FOUR OF “IS HELL REAL?” WILL COME SOON - THE LAKE OF FIRE REVEALED!