Lucifer: A Gender Bending Confuser

Since I'm on a role with controversial articles I suppose I should just keep going at this point :). This started as a Facebook post but took on a life of its own the more I thought about it. Here it is in completed form.

I always find it interesting (and amusing) when many liberal theological scholars and feminists claim that the Bible had a discriminatory patriarchal system that viewed leadership through a male lens. They say that the Bible is hateful to women and misogynistic. Some even become agitated and offended when God is referred to as a male or specifically a father, the Father or Our Father. From this we have gotten gender neutral bibles like the TNIV and other more ridiculous versions that refer to God in the feminine (when Jesus is clearly male and God). By doing this they are literally changing the word of God into something less than his word therefore apostatizing. I also wonder…those that have these more activist and liberal leanings…do they realize that Satan and demons are always referred to in the male gender also? If they are going to twist the genders and water-down God’s word until it’s not His word anymore, if they wish to view things through a gender neutral or feminine lens, I propose they  should also then make all the demons feminine and Satan female also. It is the logical recourse if people are going to squawk about the misogynist nature of God’s Word. If they are going to twist the word, they should at least follow their own twisted and unbiblical logic and see it through to its illogical end.

I personally believe this isn't even really about gender. It is just another outright attack on the validity and authority of Scripture by painting the entire Bible as woman-hating or filled with he-man woman haters. Anyone that actually has read the Bible and understood what they read realizes how absurd this assertion is but rabid feminist and culturally correct liberal Bible "scholars" will not be dissuaded from their agendas.

The truth is that God is Spirit (John 4:24) but God in His word chose primarily to be identified as masculine but occasionally in a feminine manner also. The female references though are often metaphor or simile (Genesis 1:27, Deuteronomy 32:18, Hosea 11:3-4,  Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:34, etc).  When he came as an incarnate human being, he came as the man Jesus Christ (John 1:14). Jesus was fully human and fully divine (Matthew 1:23).

There is little or no validity to the feminist argument except for those that wish to cause divisiveness in the culture by saying the God of the Bible is misogynistic (as are His followers). This is done by the system of the world (Satan) to drive people away from true Christianity by painting a twisted picture of it and passing it off as the real thing (straw man argument). If this successfully throws people off and alienates them from God, Satan will be all about gender confusion and gender bending. 

What feminist and liberal theologians seem to totally bypass in their error of de-gendering the God of Scripture is that God does not have man’s attributes, man has God’s.

Genesis 1:27 ~ So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

Man was created in God’s image not vice-verca. In so doing there is more than sexually determinant factors going on here folks. God chose to be identified as masculine because something about it applied more to his character than being female did. In addition, when we approach God from man’s point of view, we are always going to get a warped view or perception of things. We must always look from the top-down in these situations. We cannot come to Scripture evaluating God from an anthropocentric view (man’s view), we must first see the theocentric view (God’s view) as that is the way things were originally intended. We must never forget that we come to the Scriptures with a fallen and depraved mind (some more depraved than others).

What’s more is that the closer one reads Genesis 1:27, the more it becomes brutally evident that the true image bearing nature of humanity is best exemplified when man AND woman are joined together in a manner reminiscent of the Trinity itself…in marriage. It is here we see the best exemplification and communal nature of the Godhead. We have equality in the Trinity and also distinction within the Trinity. One being,  that is three Persons. In a marriage a man and a woman are to cleave or be joined and become one flesh, yet two distinct personalities-different yet the same. If one examines even close we will see that in the Trinity there are different equal personalities but they perform different roles. Jesus was willingly functionally subordinate to the Father. Nowhere is this more obvious than on the Cross. According to the Bible a human marriage requires that the man take the lead role while the woman become functionally subordinate but at the same time equal as if one flesh. The men in a marriage are further exhorted to…

Ephesians 5:25-33 “…love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.”

The relationship “flow” is top down. God to humans: God created man and then subsequently created woman as man’s helper. People are dependent on God not God on humans. As such we, woman and man owe Him our allegiance and our obedience because in Christ we have our existence (Heb 1). When humans sin, we do so against God foremost. We are created in two sexes and both bear the divine image to do the will and the work of God in the world. To do His will we do it together, not one or the other...both. Without this union the work is somehow incomplete. Somehow,  some way it is through this union of men and women that we as human best emulate the image that is God. It is a multiplicity of personality joined together in unity and action.

So you see people…it’s all interconnect. The Trinity: The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Jesus becomes man to save humanity or overturn the sin of one man (Adam). Man and Woman come to Jesus in Salvation and acceptance of the fact that Jesus came as man and died for sin and was resurrected. The Son gives all those that were chosen before the foundations of the world to the Father because none could be plucked from His hand. All of this brings glory to God. This isn't about separating things out and categorizing and compartmentalizing....its about unifying, fellowship and community. You can bet that if there is a group out there trying to divide out another sub-category from the Bible...it is not of the Spirit of God.

To try to separate out the persons male and female when both are created in the image of God is foolishness. This is no different than trying to separate out the persons of the Trinity. It is obvious that the human is more than just the sum of their physical parts. When we get too hung up on the sexuality and physical aspects in theological matters we have totally missed the point. The point and premise of a theological book like the Bible is first and foremost about God, not us. It is the Holy Bible and people are not holy without God. It is just not possible for man to be holy without God since holiness finds it origins solely in God. Except where God has given Himself his own gender distinctions in His own word, we should not attempt to change or manipulate that. By doing so we make the holy book not holy but riddled with sin due to man's anthropocentric viewpoint which is sinful and tainted by sin since the Fall of Man. The more gender bending people insist on putting into new revisionist versions of their "Bibles", the more confusion will be spread as will unholiness. Frankly, I believe we have enough confusion and unholiness when it comes to sexuality and genders, I prefer not to make it worse by aiding and abetting unbiblical practices to suit someone's ungodly agendas or identity crisis.

Legislated Morality

Justices 'Not Qualified' to Decide Moral Issues

Sunday, June 23rd, 2013 8:26 PM

By Sandy Fitzgerald

Judges should stop setting moral standards concerning homosexuality and other issues, according to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who believes constitutional law is being threatened by a growing belief in the "judge moralist". The conservative jurist, speaking at a meeting of the North Carolina Bar Association on Friday, just days before the Supreme Court is to hand down its decisions on California's Proposition 8  this coming week, told attorneys that judges are being bestowed with expertise to determine right vs. wrong on moral issues, The Charlotte Observer reports." (continue reading article here)

Andy’s Commentary

One word folks: Wrong.

Just so were clear, this article is not directly addressing the abominable practice that has just been okay-ed by the US Supreme Court in Calipornia. I will not be directly addressing the obvious sign of God's judgment on a nation in allowing gay marriage to proceed in the largest state population in America. I am more concerned with the fact that we supposedly put our trust in certain people because they claim to be something they cannot live up to. We foolishly trust them to defend our actual positions but spinelessly they wish to remove themselves from that role.

Judge Scalia seems to be exposing his "moral" fluctuation or even cowardice here. It appears Judge Scalia wants people to believe that he is not qualified to make moral types of decisions nor should the courts. Here's the problem. If he doesn't then someone else most certainly will. Frankly, I believe morality is one of the few things that can be legislated (moderated) but that's for a different post. We see the use of legislated morality all over the Bible, especially in the Old Testament Law. If I've read Romans 13 correctly, the judge is indeed put in the very position he is in for the exact reason that he should make these types of decisions when most within the society/culture he governs are morally or intellectually incapable of doing so. 

Originally courts in this once great country would make judicial decisions based in moral or natural law. Our founders created a Republic or a form of government that was designed based on “natural law” rather than positive law. Natural law begins with the premise that all of our rights come from God or "nature" and are inherent to our being (ontology). Positive law, on the other hand, believes that our rights are granted by the government, society or other men and therefore can be taken back by them as well.

It has not been until the 20th century that the US courts began their long godless shift away from natural or moral law and towards positive law or man-made and precedent(s) law. It is sadly ironic that in a court system and society based on positive law the government can give or take away rights, property, liberty or freedom based on the greater societal goals/needs. They can also pass laws based on what they perceive is the greater good based on a politically idealized agenda. So we get what we had today in the Supreme Court (regardless of how Judge Scalia voted). The courts therefore can now pass laws a majority of the American people do not want or they can remove liberties all in the name of the greater good or social justice. They can pass these laws on a purely subjective and relativistic basis since we no longer have a moral absolute to appeal to in our court systems...mainly God.

What is truly sad is that many of the premises and ideas behind the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution find their basis in natural or moral law. In other words, the moral basis for our country’s founding documents in this country were based in assumed moral, natural or divine known(s) or laws. As our judicial systems continue to move away from this basis, the courts make more and more of a case for the revisionists who wishes to negate or eradicate the US Constitution. 

The truth is that we have God’s Holy Scripture as an absolute benchmark of morality. This is also called divine law or natural law. The US courts (along with most postmodern courts) on the other hand want a court system based on what is called (lex humana and lex posita) positive law or posit law. This type of law has eventually led to twisted judicial decisions in the courts, agenda driven case precedent and a gradual undermining of morality, common-sense and ethical decision-making. In other words, they're thoroughly dumbing-down criteria for deciding what is morally proper or not. Before long there will be no morality at all as that is the direction we're heading at warp speed. By allowing precedents instead of morality to dictate court rulings in some cases we have seen a shift towards rulings in favor of people even though what they stand for is immoral or amoral. This is exactly how certain immoral or dubious aspects of Sharia Law are now managing to infiltrate the American court systems. Islam is actually using the US court systems against the American people by getting court rulings in favor of certain aspects of Sharia and building precedents at the lower court levels (which eventually find their way into the higher courts).

I don’t care what the culture thinks, Scalia is part of the problem, not part of the solution when he makes the aforementioned statement. Hopefully he doesn't really believe what he said here. He may be viewed as conservative justice by many but in my eyes he's as liberal as Ruth Bader Ginsburg making a ridiculous statement like this. He is deferring responsibility to act as a tool of God in government and divesting himself of the accountability of his leadership role. In so doing he becomes just another so-called leader not leading as he has been called to do. Like so many others in our half-destroyed government, he is abdicating his God-given role as a leader and becoming a tool of the culture. I have news for Judge Scalia and others that think like him in this instance...he is going to have to legislate morality since this country has clearly given up its God and His measure of absolute morality. By doing so we have lost the only moral absolute to base our law off of and also lost His blessing for turning from Him. The question for the courts now is: Equal justice under who's law? Man or God's? Clearly it is man's law in this day and age as God is conspicuously absent. Everyone is doing what is right in their own eyes.

Jeremiah 7:24 But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.

Jeremiah 23:1-4 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord

One additional observation: Judge Scalia’s  following comment is also disingenuous: 'The courts have no "scientifically demonstrable right answer." ' Meh....He's looking in the wrong direction for an answer here and I suspect he knows that too. Science is not the correct source for moral absolutism, a morally absolute source is: i.e. God.

As true Christians it behooves us to be discerning of the world around us and critically observe and view the world through a biblical lens. We cannot just accept “conservative” judges statements and beliefs at face value as if they are speaking from a Scriptural point of view just because a particular judge was appointed by Ronald Reagan and is labeled "conservative". I have found that the joining at-the-hip of Conservatives and Christianity has done little more than confuse borderline Christians and defame the awesome name of Jesus Christ. This has become especially true when a Republican candidate does something horribly immoral or boneheaded by acting completely un-Christian. In the case of Scalia, he's being cowardly by not wanting to rule on socially divisive and caustic issues like abortion and homosexual marriage. These are issues that will profoundly affect the lex terra (laws of the land) and he doesn't want to be involved.

Romans 13:1-5 ~ Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.\\

The truth is that unless the morality legislated by leaders is Biblical, it is doomed to failure. Until the day the Lord’s kingdom comes in full and the Lord reigns in full we will need to settle for a much inferior form of morality and governance  Even the justices in our courts both Supreme and non are by-and-large...probably not Christian. The Religious Right nor conservatives in general are not going to save us and neither is any other man-made organization or religion. Therefore we should not expect Biblical morality to issue forth from the Supreme Court or any other court for that matter. What we should expect is that those that are put in a position of leadership should lead. Granted, it will be in a flawed manner and that is what we should expect without Christ reigning in power but even secular leadership is put in place by God.

Unless we under-gird everything with the Bible and the Gospel, the morality of the country will never improve. The only difference between the unbeliever and the believer is that the believer accepted the Gospel and the unbeliever didn’t. By accepting the Gospel the believer accepts the truth and therefore the morality and truths of the Bible. Biblical morality would be preferred as it comes from a perfectly moral God. Any man-made morality will only be a temporary fix but any morality is better than no morality. We see what happened in the days of Noah and in the time of the Judges.

Conversely, to do nothing and allow Scalia to abdicate his role as a leader is to endorse through silence unbiblical behavior and a path ultimately towards chaos. Without the Gospel and Biblical morality, there is no true morality or order. Without any morality and order at all there is only anarchy and chaos. The example in this article is not leadership as describe in Romans 13, its abdication of it. To allow this without rebuke or comment would also be unbiblical behavior. So I've offered biblical comment.

I could clearly rebuke and reprimand the liberal justices in the courts also for many more reasons but it would be preaching to the choir at this point. Their sins are multitude and heinous in what they have allowed to pass as "laws". By-and-large their agendas are so thoroughly godless that they do not warrant mentioning on this blog as they have had too much airtime elsewhere. I just wanted to bring to people's attention that your so-called "friends" or allies in Conservative America are not always what they seem....or never are. We need to stop getting so hung up on the worldly labels, parties and ideologies and start matching all people and all morality against the Bible to see if it measures up. In heated battles that will have so many long-term effects on our families, someone had better speak up from a biblical position before we are all herded into a no-man's-land of homophobia, in-utero murder and premature obsolescence.

Addendum: 

June 26, 2013 4:20 pm in response to Judge Scalia's DOMA vote...

I will say in defense of Scalia that his vote today aligned itself with a Biblical principle...but I suppose that is more because of an overlap of agenda than purposeful adherence tothe Bible. To Scalia this is a moral issue not a Biblical one. The problem with thinking like that is you can still be moral by man's standards and still go to Hell. Ask any Pharisee or Scribe from the time of Christ that rejected Him. In the end Scalia still as a duty to lead regardless of what he said last week. Let us pray he continues to do what he did today even if it was done with the wrong reasons in his mind. Regardless, the truth is a Sovereign God is still in control.

Atheist Churches

Church without God - By Design
By Dan Merica, CNN 
June 21, 2013

Boston (CNN)-– It’s Sunday in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a rapt congregation listens to a chaplain preach about the importance of building a community.

A few dozen people sit quietly for the hour long service. Music is played, announcements are made and scholars wax poetic about the importance of compassion and community.

Outsiders could be forgiven for believing this service, with its homilies, its passing of the plate, its uplifting songs, belongs in a church.

If so, it’s a church without one big player: God.

(See remainder of article here)

Andy's Commentary:

I have repeatedly stated that I was not going to become either political or do cultural commentary on SoulJournaler but the absurdity of the world is becoming so pronounced someone needs to at least comment on the lunacy. I have volunteered myself as I tend towards being vocal. I will back my positions with Scripture (as I always have). I obviously cannot and will not be commenting on all the absurd things going on, only select ones since there is just too much nutty stuff to write about. 

The concept of Church is a rather simple concept for a Christian, most are raised with it since youth. No Gospel, no church. Of course an atheist or the non-spiritual will never grasp that. They will embrace the wisdom of the world and find God's wisdom (in the Gospel) foolishness (1 Corinthians 1-2). What this "belief" blog from CNN literally describes is a poor mockery of a true church. A church proper or Christian Church is a church that preaches Christ Crucified, Christ Buried and Christ Resurrected the third day in accord with Scripture. 

Acts 2:22-24 ~ “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 ~ For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…

The premises behind this article that atheists can be "good" in the truest sense of the word is ridiculous as they have no transcendent moral absolute to appeal to without God. Just as morality with no moral absolute is not morality. Atheists are incapable of good as they have no objective basis for it. Their goodness is therefore only relative based on a posteriori premises and empirical/naturalistic sources.

They worship themselves by worshiping their own ideas and their own images. I believe it is what the Old Testament called abominable practices that are hateful to and of God. No different than building a golden calf, building a high place in the desert, a shrine to Molech or erecting an Ashtaroth pole.

The only thing positive for the culture that will come out of this farce is that it will expose Atheism for the religion it is. Yes, you heard me correctly. Atheism is a religion. It is a belief system or a religion of no God. A religion being defined as a set of beliefs that dictate a person’s worldview that can include the following characteristics: A material dimension/aspect, ritual/rituals, ethics/virtue, doctrinal beliefs of philosophies, a social dimension, a logical basis and a narrative or meta-narrative.

Therefore, Atheism is not just the lack of belief in a god, but the outright assertion about the non-existence of any gods, spirits, or divine or supernatural beings. It indeed is a philosophy of no God. Atheists in in essence are worshipers of metaphysical naturalism or empiricism. They make overarching claims to things they cannot know for certain…therefore they can only arrive at their conclusions through (imagine this)…a faith or belief in something not provable from their standpoint! 

My guess as to why these "churches" are trending or becoming more popular is because they are inclusive and make no demands of attendants. They are not confronted with their sin and are accepted as-is with no expectations.

There are other belief systems that mimic the tenants of the Atheist religion to lesser extent including Buddhism and the Samkhya and the Mimamsa schools of Hinduism that fit nicely into some of these descriptions too. In ancient Hellenistic or Greek culture, Sophists and Epicureans frequently challenged a belief in the idea of a God or gods and divine action in the world.

Regardless of what people want to believe, the Bible has been clear for centuries and millennium. Great societies and cultures rise and fall but the truth of the Bible outlasts them all. Sorry folks, you can't get their from here without the Bible or God. This sentiment (or lack of it) is embodied best by the comment from one of the "faithful" atheists in the article

“I don't believe in a great power to say thank you to,” Segal sings. “But that won’t take away from my gratitude.”

This secular "psalm" is so ridiculous as to be absurd (reductio ad absurdum). It obviously begs the question: Gratitude for what and to whom? Nothing?

You're welcome to comment...

God's Attributes-Part II

God is Immutable or Unchanging

Psalm 102:27 ~ “But you remain the same, and your years will never end.

Malachi 3:6 ~ “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.

James 1:17 ~ “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Hebrews 13:8 ~ “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

God is Holy

Psalm 77:13 ~ “Your ways, God, are holy. What god is as great as our God?

Isaiah 6:3 ~ “And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

1 Peter 1:15-16 ~ “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

Revelation 4:8 ~ “Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.”

God is Wisdom

Isaiah 28:29 ~ “All this also comes from the Lord Almighty, whose plan is wonderful, whose wisdom is magnificent.

Jeremiah 10:12 ~ “But God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.

1 Corinthians 1:30 ~ “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.

God is Truth or Truthfulness

John 3:33 ~ “Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful.

Numbers 23:19 ~ “God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

John 14:6 ~ “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

God is Love

Psalm 33:5 ~ “The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.

1 John 4:8 ~ “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

God is Good or Goodness

2 Chronicles 7:3 ~ “When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “He is good; his love endures forever.”

Genesis 1:31 ~ “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

Psalm 119:68 ~ “You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees.

Mark 10:18 ~ “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.

God is Faithfulness

Psalm 33:4 ~” For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does.”

1 Corinthians 1:9 ~ “God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

1 Thessalonians 5:24 ~ “The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it”

God is Mercy or Merciful

2 Samuel 24:14 ~ “David said to Gad, “I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into human hands.”

Nehemiah 9:31 ~ “But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.”

Daniel 9:9 ~ “The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him…”

God is Kind or Kindness

2 Samuel 22:51 ~ ““He gives his king great victories; he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever.”

Romans 11:22 ~ “Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.”

God is Patient and Long-Suffering

Nehemiah 9:30 ~”For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you warned them through your prophets. Yet they paid no attention, so you gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples.

2 Peter 3:15 ~ “Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.”

God is Just or Justice

Deuteronomy 32:4 ~ “He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.

Job 37:23 ~” The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power; in his justice and great righteousness, he does not oppress.

Psalm 99:4 ~ “The King is mighty, he loves justice—you have established equity; in Jacob you have done what is just and right.

God is Righteousness

Psalm 89:14~ “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you.

1 Corinthians 1:30 ~ “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.

God is Wrath

Psalm 7:11 ~ “God is a righteous judge, a God who displays his wrath every day.

Deuteronomy 29:28 ~ “In furious anger and in great wrath the Lord uprooted them from their land and thrust them into another land, as it is now.”

Romans 1:18 ~ “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness…”

Romans 5:9 ~ “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!

Romans 9:22 ~ “What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction?”

God is Grace of Full of Grace

Isaiah 26:10 ~ “But when grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and do not regard the majesty of the Lord.

2 Timothy 1:9 ~ “He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,

Titus 3:5-7 ~ “he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.”

God is Salvation

Finally, we see that God is Salvation. Specifically, it is trust and belief in Jesus’ work in incarnate form having been crucified, died and resurrected by the Spirit of God on the third day.

Psalm 68:20 ~ “Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign LORD comes escape from death.”

Isaiah 12:2 ~ “Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation."

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 ~ “for what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…”

Acts 2:22-24 ~ “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.”

Someday Christ Will Return

Matthew 24:38-39 ~ For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

John 14:2-4 ~ My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Acts 1:11 ~ …and said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Titus 2:13 ~ waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ…

Revelation 1:7 ~ Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

Revelation 19:11-16 ~  Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

Of course God is many other infinite things but this should give human readers a general basis and comprehensive understanding of God’s character and nature for conversational purposes.

Enemy of the State

One should seriously ask themselves a question...

Edward Snowden is being called a traitor and it is said he is treasonous by many US Congress members. The US Constitution Article 3 Section 3 states: Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. Does this mean that the US Gov’t is at war with the American people and consider Americans the enemy if Snowden disclosed information about spying on the American public to the American public?

Just wondering

God's Attributes-Part I

Since it is always difficult to have a conversation about God with people who don’t truly understand Him as He is described in the Bible, I felt compelled to describe Him from the pages of Scripture. If we do not know the God of the Bible, we do not know God at all and we are in danger of condemnation. Hold on to your hats, this is going to get heady. God is infinite as are His characteristics and attributes. Obviously I will not be able to make a complete list of His character but I will try to hit most of the primary ones in the next two posts.

God is Active in Real Space/Time as Creator.

Genesis 1:1 ~ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

God is Still Active in Real Space/Time as Sustainer

Hebrews 1:3 ~ The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. 

God Has and Is the Source of Emotions: Love, Wrath/Anger, Hate, Grieves...

John 3:16 ~ “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 1:18 ~ “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.”

Psalm 11:5 ~ “The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked, and the one who loves violence His soul hates

Genesis 6:6 ~ The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.

God Has Plans and Designs, Therefore He Thinks

Ephesians 1:4-5 ~ “ For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will…”

Trinity: God is One Being and He is Three Distinct Personalities

Matthew 28:19 ~ “Therefore go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…”

John 15:26 ~ ““When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.

The Holy Spirit is a Person/Personality. He’s a He, Not an It.

Acts 13:2 ~ “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which “I” have called them.”

Jesus was Fully Human and Fully Divine

Matthew 1:23 ~ “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”)

Jesus was Incarnate or In the Flesh

John 1:14 ~ “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

2 John 1:7 ~ “I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.

Jesus’ Human Attributes are Evident all Through Scripture

Christ Hungered

Matthew 4:2 ~ After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.

Christ Slept

Matthew 8:24 ~ Suddenly, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping

Christ Suffered Anguish

Luke 22:24 ~ And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

Jesus Died

Luke 23:46 ~ Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.

Jesus Wept

John 11:33, 35 ~ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled, (v35) Jesus wept

Jesus was Man, Adam was Man

Romans 5:15 ~ But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!

Jesus was Pre-Existent before Being Born

1 John 4:1-2 ~ Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God

Jesus Held Different Roles or Offices

Jesus As A Prophet

Luke 13:33 ~ In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!

Deuteronomy 18:15 ~  The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him.

Deuteronomy 18:18 ~ I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him.

Jesus As A Priest

Psalm 110:4 ~ The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind:

“You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”

1 Corinthians 5:7 ~ Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

Ephesians 5:2 ~ and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Hebrews 4:14 ~  Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.

Hebrews 8:1 ~ Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven…

Jesus As A King

Psalm 2:6 ~ I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.

Micah 5:2 ~ “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

Matthew 2:1-2 ~  After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

John 18:37 ~ “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

Acts 17:7 ~ and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.”

God is Self-Existent

John 5:26 ~ “For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.

God is Infinite

Psalm 90:2 ~ “Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”

Psalm 93:2 ~ “Your throne was established long ago; you are from all eternity.

God is Eternal or Timeless - He Had No Beginning and Has No End

Genesis 21:33 ~ “Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord, the Eternal God.”

Exodus 3:14 ~ God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'"

John 8:58 ~ ““Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”

God is Supreme or Pre-eminent

Colossians 1:15-19 ~ “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him…”

Exodus 15:11 ~ “Who among the gods is like you, Lord? Who is like you-majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?

God is Sovereign

Isaiah 46:10 ~ “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.”

Ephesians 1:11 ~ “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will...

The God of the Bible is the One and Only God

1 Corinthians 8:6 ~ “yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

Deuteronomy 6:4 ~ “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

1 Timothy 2:5 ~ “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus…”

God is Majestic

Exodus 15:6 ~ “Your right hand, Lord, was majestic in power. Your right hand, Lord, shattered the enemy.

Job 37:22 ~ “Out of the north he comes in golden splendor; God comes in awesome majesty.

Jude 25 ~ “…to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”

God is Omnipresent

Jeremiah 23:23-24 ~ ““Am I only a God nearby,” declares the Lord, “and not a God far away? Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?” declares the Lord. “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the Lord.

God is Omniscient

1 Kings 8:39 ~ “…then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know every human heart)…”

1 Corinthians 2:10 ~ “these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.

God is Omnipotent

Genesis 18:14 ~ “Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

Revelation 19:6 ~ “ Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns.