Hebrews 1:1-3"God, who at various times and in various ways has spoken in times past to the fathers by the prophets, has in this last day spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged sins, sat down at the right hand of God."
(You Have Nothing To Do With It is a work in progress. The content is still being written/edited. Thanks.)
The purpose of You Have Nothing To Do With It is twofold:
- Establish three foundational doctrines found everywhere in the New Testament (NT) but missing and contradicted in the teaching of Christianity, Catholicism, and all other religions.
- Define, establish, and reason from the primary principle undergirding these doctrines, which is: You play no causal role in your experience of God...it is all because of Him and depends on Him. (The Christian/Catholic church is preaching a false gospel by stating it is all because of you and depends on you.)
The three foundational doctrines are:
Chapter 1 - All people sin (which means miss the mark), because Adam sinned. We do not choose to be sinners; we are inherently sinful. It is this subjected condition of separation from God (sin) that causes our experience of emptiness and frustration and inspires our infinite (futile) efforts to feel otherwise. Sin equals temporary separation from God for everyone (self-righteous and self-animated) and ends in permanent reconciliation for everyone (Christ-righteous and Christ-animated.) Eternal damnation for sin is a doctrine of demons and anti-Christ.
Sidenote: Having studied the New Testament for well over 10,000 hours I’m aware many verses seem to suggest eternal punishment for sin, and although I do not (yet) address these verses directly I do address them indirectly. For example: By proving we play no causal role in our salvation, faith, and transformation I'm indirectly proving no one is punished forever for not experiencing what only God can give them. God does not punish people forever for experiencing and expressing a condition (sin) He subjected them to, and only He can redeem them from. Therefore, (and for infinite other reasons,) though the Bible often references judgment and punishment for sins, this cannot mean what the church tells us it means.
My primary intent is to express what I’ve heard/am hearing from the Spirit of God and have you (through the Spirit) work through the inevitable important questions and implications accordingly. What happens in your heart and mind while reading this material will be because of Him, not me, and by the grace and mercy of God I rest in this understanding.
Chapter 2 - God redeemed/ransomed everyone from their temporary condition of sinful separation through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Remission (forgiveness) of sin, redemption, reconciliation, and perfect right standing with God are the end of the story for everyone. What God accomplished through Jesus was for the entire world, and we had/have nothing to do with it causally. (What took place in Christ on the cross is true because it happened, not because someone believes it happened, as the church teaches.)
Chapter 3 - Jesus is the author and finisher of faith. Faith is authored, not offered. Faith, which means persuasion or persuaded in the original Greek, is the result of hearing from God. Our faith is His work, NOT our choice. The causal force giving birth to faith is God, not "free will." Therefore, if a man or woman does not have faith, it is because God has not authored it yet. We play no causal role in our experience of faith.
Now, let us contrast these truths with current Christian/Catholic false doctrines, which teach:
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We are all sinners because we sin, and because we sin, we deserve eternal punishment. The "church" calls torment in hell for sins the expression of a just God. Nothing could be further from the truth. Redemption from sin through the suffering of Jesus is THE expression of God's justice.
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Redemption, remission, reconciliation, and righteousness are conditional; not for everyone. Salvation only comes to those who choose to repent of their sins and choose to follow Jesus. Those who do not repent, and do not follow Jesus suffer forever in hell.
Note: Different religious factions have different conditions. Another book would be required to list all the conditions Catholicism requires, and still another book to detail how Christians and Catholics (unintentionally) gaslight you into believing they have no conditions. (E.g., "Saved by the grace of God, IF you believe," is a contradiction. Grace means no conditions. IF always precedes a condition.) -
Jesus does not author faith, He offers faith. Putting our faith in Jesus for salvation is a choice of our "free will." Whether or not you have faith, and how much faith you have, depends on you, not God.
Note: Calvinists have a different approach. For them, (very) generally speaking, it goes something like this:
- We were born sinners and deserve to suffer forever for being a sinner. (Unless we are one of the elect.)
- God redeems/saves the elect only.
- God gives faith to the elect only.
(In the Calvinist worldview, everyone was born a sinner; God elected a few for redemption before the foundation of the world, and those He did not elect (billions) suffer torment forever for their sins. Therefore, we can rightly discern that Calvinism is an abomination to the truth, and absurd...to put it mildly.)
By insisting humanity (each individual) plays the causal role, not God, regarding experiencing redemption/salvation, and faith/power to live a holy life, "the church" has exalted sinful human nature and reduced God to a servant of its expression. Today's "believers" are living according to the same principle Jesus exposed (and was rejected/crucified under) in the leaders and followers of Judaism. At that time, the New Covenant of Jesus exposed the problem with the Old Covenant of Moses, and those under "Moses" killed Jesus. Said another way; God's chosen people under the Mosaic law, (a law He gave them), rejected the New Covenant of Jesus when they heard it from God/Jesus. (Reflect on that for a moment. What a profound statement about sinful human nature, and God's purpose in allowing it, which is the subject of Chapter 7.)
In Conclusion: Redemption, reconciliation, and right standing with God had/have nothing to do with you in a causal sense. Paradoxically, the Christian/Catholic church insists otherwise. In their worldview, the degree of God you experience in your life depends on you (Old Covenant of Moses), but according to the NT, it depends on God (New Covenant of Jesus.)