Sin is rebellion against God, which inevitably hurts others.
I Samuel 12:14—“If you will not listen to the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the command of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you, as he was against your fathers.”
We all suffer because of bondage to sin
John 8:34—“Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.”
Sin keeps us from the perfect life God has in store for us
Now the deeds of humanity are clearly seen, which are: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, occultism, creating enemies, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, creating sects, envying, drunkenness, extreme partying, and things like these, of which I forewarn you that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Galatians 5:19-21
Jesus died to deliver us from bondage to sin
Romans 6:23—“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
If we commit ourselves to Jesus, we are free from the punishment of sin
Hebrews 2:14-15—“Through his death He rendered powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and he freed those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”
We can commit ourselves to Jesus if we have faith in his resurrection and confess him as Lord.
Romans 10:9—“If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
In order to commit to Jesus, we need to be baptized and to repent from our sins—then we receive God’s Spirit
Acts 2:38—“Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
It is never too late to repent of our sins through God’s Spirit
“Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, ‘Today if you hear his voice do not harden your hearts against God.’ “
If we commit ourselves to Jesus, we love God and are obedient to him
Romans 6:17-18—“But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.”
Our Lord Jesus commands us to love others by power of the Spirit.
James 2:8—“If you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing well.”
In that love, we will do good to everyone—especially to those in need, especially to those who are committed to Jesus.
Galatians 6:10—“We are to do good to everyone, especially to those of the household of faith.”
Be a part of God’s community, who will assist you in living out the love of God
Hebrews 10:24-25—“Let us consider how to stimulate each other to love and good deeds, not forsaking the gathering of yourselves together, but encouraging one another.
“In Christ Jesus, nothing matters except faith working itself out through love.” Galatians 5:6
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Your Own Personal Jesus
Who is Jesus?
Sure, we all know that Jesus is this great guy, who lived two thousand years ago, was a teacher, a healer, a prophet, that he was crucified, was risen from the dead and—oh yeah—he’s God too. But let’s face it, that was two thousand years ago—what has he done for me lately? Who is he to us right now, today? Let’s listen to what some have to say about their experiences of Jesus:
The Distant Authority Jesus
“Look, we all are under authority, and if we’re not, then we should be. Jesus is my ultimate authority, but he speaks directly through the authority who is directly over me. As long as I obey that authority, I’m obeying Jesus. If that authority tells me something against what Jesus says—who cares? That authority IS Jesus, for me. As long as I obey him, I’m okay.”
The Moral Teacher Jesus
“Jesus is, like, my moral guru. He’s the ultimate teacher, and he guides me everyday. He keeps me calm, so I don’t cause friction or difficulties for anyone. Jesus is just all about love and peace. What’s that? He talked to some guys called Pharisees? I didn’t know that. Still, Jesus is just totally cool.”
The Demi-god Jesus
“Jesus is always there for me. We’ve got a deal—I’ll praise him every Sunday and just sing and praise my heart out for him. Then, if I get any terrible discomfort—like, my car breaks down—then I can ask Jesus and he takes care of me. What do I do for him? Well, I praise him a lot—didn’t you hear me?”
The Doctrinal Jesus
“I am a firm believer in the orthodox Christian creed. Jesus was born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, he was crucified, buried and on the third day rose again for my sins. I go to church every Sunday to hear about it. And the rest of my life is pretty much my own. How do I live my life? Well, I try not to lie or cheat on my wife. I’m a pretty good person. But we were talking about Jesus, weren’t we?”
The Institutional Jesus
“I’m really involved in the church, and I just see Jesus there everyday. Every program we have is led by Jesus and we know that Jesus is constantly with us. How do we know? Well, Jesus said where two or three are gathered, and we’ve got a lot of people gathered and in agreement. So Jesus must be here right with us, no matter what we do, right?”
The Friendship Jesus
“Jesus is my best friend. There’s no one like Him. He’s always with me and I know he’s right there. He comforts me when I’m down, and he helps me out when I’ve got problems. He’s really a great guy. My Lord? Well, I wouldn’t call him my Lord—he’s my bud.”
The Real Jesus
There is nothing wrong with the Jesus’ portrayed above, generally. Each one seems really different, but they are each a general reflection of who Jesus is. The problem is that none of these Jesus’ above reflects the relationship Jesus says he wants us to have with him. Jesus is not just the Jesus we might experience, but he is the Jesus of the Bible, as portrayed by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. If our personal Jesus is different than the Jesus who we read about there, then we don’t have the real Jesus, we just have a copy.
The real Jesus invites us to join him and his troop. There is only one requirement—and that is that we accept Him as Lord. Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me let him deny himself… and follow me.” It is not enough that we have Jesus at arms length—Jesus must be a part of who we are, directing us, guiding us to do what He wants, not what we want. In Jesus, our very selves are denied so that Jesus can take over. What does it mean to have Jesus as our Lord?
Jesus is our teacher
“There is only one teacher and you are all brothers.” Matthew 23:8
Jesus is the only true teacher, because he alone knows the truth. Jesus will tell us what really is reality, even if part of reality we can’t see yet. Jesus has experienced both this world and the spirit world, and is ready to explain them both to us. Jesus also tells us how to live—what is good and what is bad. Not only does he explain it, but he lives it out, providing us with an example of how to live. So as our Lord, he asks us to place him as our teacher above all other teachers, and put all other teachings—whether moral or otherwise— against his standard. If they aren’t compatible with his teaching, then we reject it.
Jesus is our master
“You call me teacher and master, and so I am.” John 13:13
But Jesus is not simply a teacher—he also is a master. He has direct authority over those who call him Lord. This means that Jesus has the last say over what we do. Jesus is our master, so we listen to him directly, through the Scripture and through the Spirit of God. We don’t have to hear someone else tell us what Jesus says. Jesus talks to us directly. But we need to constantly read the gospels so we can know what Jesus is saying to us.
Jesus is our deliverer
“I came to seek and to save the lost” Luke 19:10
Jesus saw us in our suffering and took pity on us. He saw that we were miserable and having difficulties with everyone around us, and we weren’t at peace in our lives. So he delivered us out of what was causing us to suffer. The whole world system is a system of suffering, and he delivered us from that. But not only that, he helps us daily to escape suffering. This doesn’t mean that we wouldn’t suffer—Jesus promised that we would—but we can have confidence that He can and will deliver us, and so we trust in him and seek him to do this.
Jesus is our king
“I am a king, for this I have been born… My kingdom is not of this world.”—John 19:36-37
Ultimately, when we say that Jesus is our Lord, we are saying that he is our King. Jesus is the king of our nation—called the kingdom of God—and we are the citizens of that nation forever. Our main allegiance is not to the country we reside in, but the country that currently resides in heaven. Jesus told everyone who is in his kingdom to tell others about his Lordship so that more and more people would join God’s kingdom—making it bigger! Soon Jesus will be coming back to earth—perhaps today—to rule the earth and he is preparing to judge everyone. We will all be judged—not on whether we called him Lord, but on whether we ACTED like it.
So we need to be ready. We must not just prepare ourselves with our “personal Jesus,” but we need to be ready to meet the REAL Jesus—real soon!
Sure, we all know that Jesus is this great guy, who lived two thousand years ago, was a teacher, a healer, a prophet, that he was crucified, was risen from the dead and—oh yeah—he’s God too. But let’s face it, that was two thousand years ago—what has he done for me lately? Who is he to us right now, today? Let’s listen to what some have to say about their experiences of Jesus:
The Distant Authority Jesus
“Look, we all are under authority, and if we’re not, then we should be. Jesus is my ultimate authority, but he speaks directly through the authority who is directly over me. As long as I obey that authority, I’m obeying Jesus. If that authority tells me something against what Jesus says—who cares? That authority IS Jesus, for me. As long as I obey him, I’m okay.”
The Moral Teacher Jesus
“Jesus is, like, my moral guru. He’s the ultimate teacher, and he guides me everyday. He keeps me calm, so I don’t cause friction or difficulties for anyone. Jesus is just all about love and peace. What’s that? He talked to some guys called Pharisees? I didn’t know that. Still, Jesus is just totally cool.”
The Demi-god Jesus
“Jesus is always there for me. We’ve got a deal—I’ll praise him every Sunday and just sing and praise my heart out for him. Then, if I get any terrible discomfort—like, my car breaks down—then I can ask Jesus and he takes care of me. What do I do for him? Well, I praise him a lot—didn’t you hear me?”
The Doctrinal Jesus
“I am a firm believer in the orthodox Christian creed. Jesus was born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, he was crucified, buried and on the third day rose again for my sins. I go to church every Sunday to hear about it. And the rest of my life is pretty much my own. How do I live my life? Well, I try not to lie or cheat on my wife. I’m a pretty good person. But we were talking about Jesus, weren’t we?”
The Institutional Jesus
“I’m really involved in the church, and I just see Jesus there everyday. Every program we have is led by Jesus and we know that Jesus is constantly with us. How do we know? Well, Jesus said where two or three are gathered, and we’ve got a lot of people gathered and in agreement. So Jesus must be here right with us, no matter what we do, right?”
The Friendship Jesus
“Jesus is my best friend. There’s no one like Him. He’s always with me and I know he’s right there. He comforts me when I’m down, and he helps me out when I’ve got problems. He’s really a great guy. My Lord? Well, I wouldn’t call him my Lord—he’s my bud.”
The Real Jesus
There is nothing wrong with the Jesus’ portrayed above, generally. Each one seems really different, but they are each a general reflection of who Jesus is. The problem is that none of these Jesus’ above reflects the relationship Jesus says he wants us to have with him. Jesus is not just the Jesus we might experience, but he is the Jesus of the Bible, as portrayed by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. If our personal Jesus is different than the Jesus who we read about there, then we don’t have the real Jesus, we just have a copy.
The real Jesus invites us to join him and his troop. There is only one requirement—and that is that we accept Him as Lord. Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me let him deny himself… and follow me.” It is not enough that we have Jesus at arms length—Jesus must be a part of who we are, directing us, guiding us to do what He wants, not what we want. In Jesus, our very selves are denied so that Jesus can take over. What does it mean to have Jesus as our Lord?
Jesus is our teacher
“There is only one teacher and you are all brothers.” Matthew 23:8
Jesus is the only true teacher, because he alone knows the truth. Jesus will tell us what really is reality, even if part of reality we can’t see yet. Jesus has experienced both this world and the spirit world, and is ready to explain them both to us. Jesus also tells us how to live—what is good and what is bad. Not only does he explain it, but he lives it out, providing us with an example of how to live. So as our Lord, he asks us to place him as our teacher above all other teachers, and put all other teachings—whether moral or otherwise— against his standard. If they aren’t compatible with his teaching, then we reject it.
Jesus is our master
“You call me teacher and master, and so I am.” John 13:13
But Jesus is not simply a teacher—he also is a master. He has direct authority over those who call him Lord. This means that Jesus has the last say over what we do. Jesus is our master, so we listen to him directly, through the Scripture and through the Spirit of God. We don’t have to hear someone else tell us what Jesus says. Jesus talks to us directly. But we need to constantly read the gospels so we can know what Jesus is saying to us.
Jesus is our deliverer
“I came to seek and to save the lost” Luke 19:10
Jesus saw us in our suffering and took pity on us. He saw that we were miserable and having difficulties with everyone around us, and we weren’t at peace in our lives. So he delivered us out of what was causing us to suffer. The whole world system is a system of suffering, and he delivered us from that. But not only that, he helps us daily to escape suffering. This doesn’t mean that we wouldn’t suffer—Jesus promised that we would—but we can have confidence that He can and will deliver us, and so we trust in him and seek him to do this.
Jesus is our king
“I am a king, for this I have been born… My kingdom is not of this world.”—John 19:36-37
Ultimately, when we say that Jesus is our Lord, we are saying that he is our King. Jesus is the king of our nation—called the kingdom of God—and we are the citizens of that nation forever. Our main allegiance is not to the country we reside in, but the country that currently resides in heaven. Jesus told everyone who is in his kingdom to tell others about his Lordship so that more and more people would join God’s kingdom—making it bigger! Soon Jesus will be coming back to earth—perhaps today—to rule the earth and he is preparing to judge everyone. We will all be judged—not on whether we called him Lord, but on whether we ACTED like it.
So we need to be ready. We must not just prepare ourselves with our “personal Jesus,” but we need to be ready to meet the REAL Jesus—real soon!
How Did We Get Into This Mess?
What do we want?
As humans, we are pretty simple. We have a bundle of desires, and we will do whatever we can to get them. We want our basic needs met: food, drink, sleep, health, a place to go to the bathroom. We want contentment and peace in ourselves. We want to be secure from things that might endanger us. We want some pleasure in our lives. We want to be connected to other people, feel a part of them. And we want to be respected. Pretty basic stuff. Not complicated.
What God wants
God is our father and he sees what we want. He created us and so He knows what we want, because he made these desires in us. They are good, and he wants to see them fulfilled. He wants us to do what we can to get these needs fulfilled. But he also doesn’t want us to hurt ourselves or others. And so many times, we are like toddlers—we don’t see what’s wrong with touching the stove, or hitting our friends. God knows, and he wants to protect us from harm. Also, he recognizes that He is the most important One in our lives, our parent. So He doesn’t want us to drift away from Him. He wants us not to give to other people or things or ideas what belongs to Him. He wants us to love Him and to acknowledge Him as the most important One in our lives.
Who are we?
We are just like complicated toddlers. When we see what we want, we go for it. We change want we want with every hour, at one moment wanting something, and the next wanting the opposite. Some of this has to do with the bodies who make up a part of who we are. Our bodies are flooded with hormones and get trapped thinking in a certain way. Some of this mutability has to do with the society we see ourselves in—our family, friends, entertainments, co-workers, and the environments in which we live are all offering us different options and ideals for us to live up to, and we have a hard time resisting any of them. Also, though, we are influenced by spiritual powers. Most of the powers around us are trying to get us to ignore God. They want us to do anything, to think about anything except God, our Father, who loves us and wants to care for us. They want us to focus on money, on greed, on lust, on revenge, on obtaining power. They want us to focus on this because all of these things cause our ultimate destruction, as if we were a pointless message, doomed to self-destruct in a twisted version of Mission Impossible.
What Jesus came to do
God, our Father, sees our plight, and so he sends us Jesus. Jesus comes to tell us the truth about God, and to help us focus on Him again. Jesus doesn’t do this because God is a great guy, but because it is best for us. Jesus’ ultimate goal is to make our lives better. So he displayed again and again that God will help us with what we really want. While God may not give us money or revenge or power, He will meet our needs. God will give us health. God will give us security. God will give us joy. God will give us a society. God will grant us respect. Jesus demonstrated that on common people, just like you and me.
But it isn’t enough for Jesus to give us a good life through God. He recognized that we aren’t just made up of ourselves, but that God is in competition with other people and spiritual forces for our best interests. So Jesus had to create a place—a nation, rather—where we could live for God. So he told everyone that he was planning on establishing a nation where that could be done, and doing this through God’s power alone.
What happened to Jesus?
But there were people who didn’t see Jesus’ goals as noble. They felt that they already were living for God and that they already had a nation where people could live for God. Jesus, however, pointed out to them that they weren’t actually honoring God at all, but money, greed, lust and power. And he let them know that he was taking over. Because Jesus had many people following him, these political leaders thought that Jesus posed a threat—so they killed him.
What Jesus did for us
God, the Father, saw all this and decided it was time to step in. He raised Jesus from the dead to demonstrate for everyone that Jesus was right and the ones who killed him were wrong. He showed everyone that you can’t claim to be of God if you are really focusing on money, greed, power, and lust. And then God did something else: he appointed Jesus as head over the new people of God—the new nation of God’s people. Included in this nation is freedom—freedom from the many distractions that keeps us from God. Free from the spiritual forces that are trying to force us into molds of corruption. Freedom to live our lives as God intended—meeting our needs without destroying ourselves.
What is Jesus offering us?
1. He offers us a chance to be separated from our old lives of corruption
Through Jesus, we can be forgiven for trying to forget God and His ways. God is willing and enthusiastic to take us back.
2. He offers us a new community to be involved in
Through Jesus, a new community who strives to honor God in every way exists. We can take part of that community, and so find it easier to live for God.
3. He offers us an opportunity to ask God directly to meet our needs
Through Jesus, we have an open channel to God. Even as Jesus prayed and was answered, so we can do the same.
4. He offers us the Holy Spirit who will encourage us to be who we need to be in God
Jesus grants those who follow Him a friend who lives inside of us who will encourage us to seek God and to honor Him with all of our lives.
Taking Advantage of Jesus’ Offer
Sounds good? Well, then just follow up on what Jesus asks us to do:
A. Jesus wants us to acknowledge Him as the Ruler of our lives
Pray for him to take over. Look below for a sample.
B. Jesus wants us to find one of His communities and join it
Find a church that welcomes you and demonstrates Jesus in their lives, and be part of it.
C. Jesus wants us to get baptized as a life-long commitment to Him
Get baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to show that you are in Jesus’ nation and will never leave it.
D. Jesus wants us to get to know Him and His ways
Begin by reading the book of Matthew—the first book of the New Testament in the Bible.
You can pray this prayer:
Jesus, I haven’t done a great job of trying to rule myself. Please, take over my life. I want you to be in charge. Please, lead me to your people who will help me live for You. I love you and want to live my life for You. Thank you so much for dying for me so I can have this opportunity. Amen.
As humans, we are pretty simple. We have a bundle of desires, and we will do whatever we can to get them. We want our basic needs met: food, drink, sleep, health, a place to go to the bathroom. We want contentment and peace in ourselves. We want to be secure from things that might endanger us. We want some pleasure in our lives. We want to be connected to other people, feel a part of them. And we want to be respected. Pretty basic stuff. Not complicated.
What God wants
God is our father and he sees what we want. He created us and so He knows what we want, because he made these desires in us. They are good, and he wants to see them fulfilled. He wants us to do what we can to get these needs fulfilled. But he also doesn’t want us to hurt ourselves or others. And so many times, we are like toddlers—we don’t see what’s wrong with touching the stove, or hitting our friends. God knows, and he wants to protect us from harm. Also, he recognizes that He is the most important One in our lives, our parent. So He doesn’t want us to drift away from Him. He wants us not to give to other people or things or ideas what belongs to Him. He wants us to love Him and to acknowledge Him as the most important One in our lives.
Who are we?
We are just like complicated toddlers. When we see what we want, we go for it. We change want we want with every hour, at one moment wanting something, and the next wanting the opposite. Some of this has to do with the bodies who make up a part of who we are. Our bodies are flooded with hormones and get trapped thinking in a certain way. Some of this mutability has to do with the society we see ourselves in—our family, friends, entertainments, co-workers, and the environments in which we live are all offering us different options and ideals for us to live up to, and we have a hard time resisting any of them. Also, though, we are influenced by spiritual powers. Most of the powers around us are trying to get us to ignore God. They want us to do anything, to think about anything except God, our Father, who loves us and wants to care for us. They want us to focus on money, on greed, on lust, on revenge, on obtaining power. They want us to focus on this because all of these things cause our ultimate destruction, as if we were a pointless message, doomed to self-destruct in a twisted version of Mission Impossible.
What Jesus came to do
God, our Father, sees our plight, and so he sends us Jesus. Jesus comes to tell us the truth about God, and to help us focus on Him again. Jesus doesn’t do this because God is a great guy, but because it is best for us. Jesus’ ultimate goal is to make our lives better. So he displayed again and again that God will help us with what we really want. While God may not give us money or revenge or power, He will meet our needs. God will give us health. God will give us security. God will give us joy. God will give us a society. God will grant us respect. Jesus demonstrated that on common people, just like you and me.
But it isn’t enough for Jesus to give us a good life through God. He recognized that we aren’t just made up of ourselves, but that God is in competition with other people and spiritual forces for our best interests. So Jesus had to create a place—a nation, rather—where we could live for God. So he told everyone that he was planning on establishing a nation where that could be done, and doing this through God’s power alone.
What happened to Jesus?
But there were people who didn’t see Jesus’ goals as noble. They felt that they already were living for God and that they already had a nation where people could live for God. Jesus, however, pointed out to them that they weren’t actually honoring God at all, but money, greed, lust and power. And he let them know that he was taking over. Because Jesus had many people following him, these political leaders thought that Jesus posed a threat—so they killed him.
What Jesus did for us
God, the Father, saw all this and decided it was time to step in. He raised Jesus from the dead to demonstrate for everyone that Jesus was right and the ones who killed him were wrong. He showed everyone that you can’t claim to be of God if you are really focusing on money, greed, power, and lust. And then God did something else: he appointed Jesus as head over the new people of God—the new nation of God’s people. Included in this nation is freedom—freedom from the many distractions that keeps us from God. Free from the spiritual forces that are trying to force us into molds of corruption. Freedom to live our lives as God intended—meeting our needs without destroying ourselves.
What is Jesus offering us?
1. He offers us a chance to be separated from our old lives of corruption
Through Jesus, we can be forgiven for trying to forget God and His ways. God is willing and enthusiastic to take us back.
2. He offers us a new community to be involved in
Through Jesus, a new community who strives to honor God in every way exists. We can take part of that community, and so find it easier to live for God.
3. He offers us an opportunity to ask God directly to meet our needs
Through Jesus, we have an open channel to God. Even as Jesus prayed and was answered, so we can do the same.
4. He offers us the Holy Spirit who will encourage us to be who we need to be in God
Jesus grants those who follow Him a friend who lives inside of us who will encourage us to seek God and to honor Him with all of our lives.
Taking Advantage of Jesus’ Offer
Sounds good? Well, then just follow up on what Jesus asks us to do:
A. Jesus wants us to acknowledge Him as the Ruler of our lives
Pray for him to take over. Look below for a sample.
B. Jesus wants us to find one of His communities and join it
Find a church that welcomes you and demonstrates Jesus in their lives, and be part of it.
C. Jesus wants us to get baptized as a life-long commitment to Him
Get baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to show that you are in Jesus’ nation and will never leave it.
D. Jesus wants us to get to know Him and His ways
Begin by reading the book of Matthew—the first book of the New Testament in the Bible.
You can pray this prayer:
Jesus, I haven’t done a great job of trying to rule myself. Please, take over my life. I want you to be in charge. Please, lead me to your people who will help me live for You. I love you and want to live my life for You. Thank you so much for dying for me so I can have this opportunity. Amen.
top ten ways to GO TO HELL
Perhaps you are tired of the idea of going to heaven. Sounds boring? Well, try hell instead! It’s sure to be interesting. After all, every selfish person who has ever lived will be there, and there won’t be anyone with good intentions to limit the evil done. Not only will you be able to do whatever evil you want, but so will everyone else! It will be a free-for-all of oppression and destruction and theft and hatred, without anyone to stop anyone. Everyone doing even more evil to you than you do to them. That ought to be interesting. In fact, it is mentioned as a place where crying and agony will never cease. If you want to try it out, here are some ways that people have found to be really successful in getting there:
1. Curse God
“Curse God and die.” Job 2:9
If you want to be cursed by God and gain his hatred, all you have to do is express hatred to God. Tell God just how much you despise him and how you wish he would be extinct. Disrespect him in every way you can think of. Although he would still want you to repent (because he loves you) he will send you to hell.
2. Rebel against God
“If you refuse to listen and rebel against the Lord, you will be devoured by the sword.” Isaiah 1:20
God has the right to ask everyone on earth to listen to him and obey him because they are all his creation. However, if you want to be punished by God, you can always refuse to listen to anything God says. Whatever God says, just do the opposite. Whatever God wants, thumb your nose at him and do whatever you want. This way to get to hell isn’t unique, but it’s really effective.
3. Blaspheme the Holy Spirit
Blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. Matthew 12:31
This way to get to hell is more rare, and it has some flair to it. Blasphemy of the Spirit is to see God’s work—a miracle that does someone some great good, for instance—and claim that it is done by the power of some evil god, like Satan. No believer in God can do this one, so one has to really work at it!
4. Don’t believe in Jesus
“Unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins." John 8:24
This way is very popular with the majority of people of the world who are not Christians. It is very acceptable to those who wish to be tolerant as well. After all, in the world today it is popular to be tolerant to everyone except to those who say that Jesus has an exclusive claim to life.
5. Believe in Jesus but don’t act like it
He who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." John 3:36
This is the most popular method for Christians who wish to go to hell. Christians are participating in this in droves! Whole churches are praising Jesus and ignoring his commands, and so you can join a community of Christian hell-visitors.
6. Don’t Help the People of Jesus when they are in need
“Depart from me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels for I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat.” Matthew 25:41-42
If you feel that anyone who needs food or shelter is that way because of their own laziness, this way could be for you. If you see a follower of Jesus in need, just ignore them. It’s easy and effective! To make sure it does the trick, you can add an insult like “get a job” on top of it.
7. Oppress the Needy
If you afflict the needy at all, and if he does cry out to Me, I will surely hear his cry; and My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword. Exodus 22:23-24
You could go all the way and actually take from the needy! This is the quickest way to get to hell, and popular among the wealthy and powerful. Rub elbows with the upper crust and see that the needy don’t get a fair shake!
8. Don’t repent of your habitual sin
Even if a good man changes and then does evil, every good thing one has done will not be remembered, but only the sin and treachery he committed, and for them, he will die. Ezekiel 18:23-24
God has repeatedly said that anyone who repents from their evil deeds will live. But if you keep doing what evil you’re already doing, you will die and go to hell! There’s nothing to it, just keep doing the evil you are already doing. Of course if you think you aren’t doing any evil, then just keep that up, too! Hypocrites get to hell just as easily as any other sinner.
9. Reject the one who repents of their sin
If you do not forgive, you will not be forgiven. Matthew 6:15
This is a lesser known path to hell. Whoever has ever done you wrong, just keep it in mind and refuse to have anything to do with them because of it—that will send you to hell! Getting to hell is so easy, sometimes you can get there by not even trying!
10. Train others to go to hell
You travel to make one student; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. Matthew 23:15
There are so many ways to do this! You could help someone lose their faith in God, teach them to rebel against God, or tempt them to sin. This is the group method of getting to hell. And, as a special bonus, the one who does this gets to see the worst parts of hell!
You see how easy it is to get to hell? Jesus himself said, “Broad is the path that leads to destruction.” Of course, the problem about visiting hell is that you can’t ever leave. It’s kinda the Hotel California of the Spirit world. That can be a bummer, especially if you are tired of it. But anyone who visits hell, has it for their home. Forever. Frankly, that really sucks.
Now, God isn’t in the business of sending people to hell, even if some teachers make it sound that way. God says, “I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies, therefore, repent and live.” Ezekiel 18: Everyone has the possibility of escaping hell—God gives everyone the chance to not visit it at all. If you are interested in not visiting hell, then do the following:
Believe in Jesus
Do what Jesus says
Ask for the Holy Spirit
Keep living according to what God gives you.
This isn’t necessarily easy, nor is it popular. But it’s a much better life both on earth and eternally than living in hell on earth and then suffering with real hell for eternity.
Visiting hell is popular, but Jesus’ way is really radical.
1. Curse God
“Curse God and die.” Job 2:9
If you want to be cursed by God and gain his hatred, all you have to do is express hatred to God. Tell God just how much you despise him and how you wish he would be extinct. Disrespect him in every way you can think of. Although he would still want you to repent (because he loves you) he will send you to hell.
2. Rebel against God
“If you refuse to listen and rebel against the Lord, you will be devoured by the sword.” Isaiah 1:20
God has the right to ask everyone on earth to listen to him and obey him because they are all his creation. However, if you want to be punished by God, you can always refuse to listen to anything God says. Whatever God says, just do the opposite. Whatever God wants, thumb your nose at him and do whatever you want. This way to get to hell isn’t unique, but it’s really effective.
3. Blaspheme the Holy Spirit
Blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. Matthew 12:31
This way to get to hell is more rare, and it has some flair to it. Blasphemy of the Spirit is to see God’s work—a miracle that does someone some great good, for instance—and claim that it is done by the power of some evil god, like Satan. No believer in God can do this one, so one has to really work at it!
4. Don’t believe in Jesus
“Unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins." John 8:24
This way is very popular with the majority of people of the world who are not Christians. It is very acceptable to those who wish to be tolerant as well. After all, in the world today it is popular to be tolerant to everyone except to those who say that Jesus has an exclusive claim to life.
5. Believe in Jesus but don’t act like it
He who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." John 3:36
This is the most popular method for Christians who wish to go to hell. Christians are participating in this in droves! Whole churches are praising Jesus and ignoring his commands, and so you can join a community of Christian hell-visitors.
6. Don’t Help the People of Jesus when they are in need
“Depart from me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels for I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat.” Matthew 25:41-42
If you feel that anyone who needs food or shelter is that way because of their own laziness, this way could be for you. If you see a follower of Jesus in need, just ignore them. It’s easy and effective! To make sure it does the trick, you can add an insult like “get a job” on top of it.
7. Oppress the Needy
If you afflict the needy at all, and if he does cry out to Me, I will surely hear his cry; and My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword. Exodus 22:23-24
You could go all the way and actually take from the needy! This is the quickest way to get to hell, and popular among the wealthy and powerful. Rub elbows with the upper crust and see that the needy don’t get a fair shake!
8. Don’t repent of your habitual sin
Even if a good man changes and then does evil, every good thing one has done will not be remembered, but only the sin and treachery he committed, and for them, he will die. Ezekiel 18:23-24
God has repeatedly said that anyone who repents from their evil deeds will live. But if you keep doing what evil you’re already doing, you will die and go to hell! There’s nothing to it, just keep doing the evil you are already doing. Of course if you think you aren’t doing any evil, then just keep that up, too! Hypocrites get to hell just as easily as any other sinner.
9. Reject the one who repents of their sin
If you do not forgive, you will not be forgiven. Matthew 6:15
This is a lesser known path to hell. Whoever has ever done you wrong, just keep it in mind and refuse to have anything to do with them because of it—that will send you to hell! Getting to hell is so easy, sometimes you can get there by not even trying!
10. Train others to go to hell
You travel to make one student; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. Matthew 23:15
There are so many ways to do this! You could help someone lose their faith in God, teach them to rebel against God, or tempt them to sin. This is the group method of getting to hell. And, as a special bonus, the one who does this gets to see the worst parts of hell!
You see how easy it is to get to hell? Jesus himself said, “Broad is the path that leads to destruction.” Of course, the problem about visiting hell is that you can’t ever leave. It’s kinda the Hotel California of the Spirit world. That can be a bummer, especially if you are tired of it. But anyone who visits hell, has it for their home. Forever. Frankly, that really sucks.
Now, God isn’t in the business of sending people to hell, even if some teachers make it sound that way. God says, “I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies, therefore, repent and live.” Ezekiel 18: Everyone has the possibility of escaping hell—God gives everyone the chance to not visit it at all. If you are interested in not visiting hell, then do the following:
Believe in Jesus
Do what Jesus says
Ask for the Holy Spirit
Keep living according to what God gives you.
This isn’t necessarily easy, nor is it popular. But it’s a much better life both on earth and eternally than living in hell on earth and then suffering with real hell for eternity.
Visiting hell is popular, but Jesus’ way is really radical.
World Peace or Whirled Peas?
Got World Peace?
Peace, according to the Bible is not just an absence of violence or a peaceful, easy feeling, but it is well-being in a community. When the Bible promises “peace on earth to those obtaining grace”, it is not speaking of a lack of war, but of a ruling principle and nation who would provide for all in need and offer justice and peace to everyone, without exclusion. This well-being and justice is called “shalom” in the Bible.
Stuck with Whirled Peas?
If there is one thing the world lacks, it is peace, meaning shalom. If shalom is a world-wide community in which everyone experiences well-being, acceptance, mutual assistance, and equal justice for all, then we have never experienced it. In every nation, in every era, the poor have been oppressed. The outcast have been thrown out because of arbitrary cultural mores. The religious have judged and rejected all people who did not accept their narrow guidelines. The non-religious have judged and rejected the religious because of their devotion to God. And all people purpose to harm all people who stand in the way of their culture controlling and manipulating all others.
Life on earth is not shalom. It is anti-peace.
Everyone wants peace. Most of us in the world recognize that we are all in trouble, that we don’t have peace, and all of us want to obtain it. Or create it. Or force it on others. To create shalom where there is no shalom is what the Bible calls “salvation.” Frankly, it is a utopian ideal, just like democracy is, just like capitalism is, just like communism. The difference is that the Bible claims that salvation—the creation of shalom in the world—is something that only God can do. Peace and justice cannot come simply from human effort or from anarchy. It must be a work of God that humans join with. But it is initiated by God.
Getting Better All The Time
The first step of God’s shalom-making was creation. God saw the chaos, the pointlessness of the world and made it again. And, according to Scripture, after God’s peace-making, He established humanity to rule over His creation and to keep it in shalom. This plan failed when humanity chose rebellion and chaos instead of God’s shalom.
Another step in God’s shalom-making was choosing Abraham. Abraham was not a perfect man, but he was a person who sought God alone, being faithful to Him, and trusting in Him when all else seemed chaotic. God chose Abraham because of his trust in God and said that whoever would obtain shalom, in all the world, they must be like Abraham and choose his path of trust. This plan failed because people thought that following the ritual of Abraham or being born into the family of Abraham obtained this shalom.
Another step in God’s shalom-making was to create a community of shalom with very specific rules. He chose for His people a nation in slavery—the outcast—so they would know how to treat those who were outcast. And He taught them His ways of love and shalom for all his people. This experiment failed in different ways, over the years. First, the people didn’t believe that God could really give them shalom. Then, they sought out other spiritual powers to grant them shalom. Then, they oppressed the poor, forgetting that they were once poor themselves. And finally, they took God’s rules and make them so burdensome that it became impossible to live them out.
Without exception, everyone has done wrong before God and become offensive to Him. But we all have been given the opportunity to be right before God through the deliverance from the slavery to sin and death which can be found in the Messiah Jesus. When the Father raised Jesus from an official execution, he showed him to be the path to be forgiven of our sins and to have a relationship with God. God proved his justice—which was called into question by him overlooking sins in the past and because of his patience—by making acceptable the one who enters into the devotion of Jesus, and so He proved his actions just….Jesus was given to the authorities to be punished because of our wrongs before God and Jesus was raised from his execution so that we could be made acceptable before God. Therefore, since we have been made acceptable by committed devotion, we have the shalom of God through our King, Messiah Jesus. It is because of Him that we have the right to speak to God and receive the blessings of God, on which we depend on for our very well-being. We boast in our confidence in being a part of God’s glory. You see, we can boast in the sufferings we receive—even as Jesus did—because we know that our suffering gives us the opportunity to stick with God. And sticking with God in the midst of suffering—even as Jesus did— is the test of our true devotion to God. And if our devotion is tested, then we have confidence—because if Jesus was raised by His enduring devotion, so will we. And this confidence will never be dashed because God’s love fills us through the Holy Spirit, given by God, to help us endure in the midst of our struggles. (Romans 3:23-26; 4:25-5:5 SKV)
Love Reign O’er Me
Finally, after all of these temporary experiments, God began his final plan for shalom. He sent his Son to be emperor of the world, ruler of his people. First, Jesus displayed shalom by setting people free from spiritual judgment, offering them freedom from diseases and mental illnesses and offering them a new life in God. Then he told the people the life of shalom in God, living by the principles of shalom. Then, finally, he allowed the rulers of God’s people—the priests and elders—to kill him, treating him as an outcast of God’s people. But God vindicated his Son as the only way to God’s shalom, the great Truth-teller. And a new people was created under Jesus, living Jesus’ shalom-principles and testing the world with their message of destruction of the anti-shalom and the establishment of God’s shalom.
The Underground Revolution
Through Jesus, God is continually creating communities of shalom—some big and some small. These communities are made up of those who were rejected by the world and who are baptized in Jesus—namely, those who have committed themselves to being citizens of Jesus’ new nation of shalom. These baptized are committed to Jesus’ principles of peace and justice. But these principles are not enough in and of themselves, because we all are too weak, as humans, to maintain shalom. So the Emperor has allowed us to receive the Holy Spirit, who helps us in our weakness to maintain shalom, even when we do not have the strength to live it out.
Would you like to be a part of this process of creating shalom, or peace and justice on earth? The first step is to commit yourself to Jesus by being baptized. And then you live out Jesus’ principles of peace. Begin now by praying this: “Jesus, I have messed my life up. Rule over my life and make me a new person. Teach me how to being peace and justice to the world and give me the Holy Spirit to remain in that peace myself.”
Peace, according to the Bible is not just an absence of violence or a peaceful, easy feeling, but it is well-being in a community. When the Bible promises “peace on earth to those obtaining grace”, it is not speaking of a lack of war, but of a ruling principle and nation who would provide for all in need and offer justice and peace to everyone, without exclusion. This well-being and justice is called “shalom” in the Bible.
Stuck with Whirled Peas?
If there is one thing the world lacks, it is peace, meaning shalom. If shalom is a world-wide community in which everyone experiences well-being, acceptance, mutual assistance, and equal justice for all, then we have never experienced it. In every nation, in every era, the poor have been oppressed. The outcast have been thrown out because of arbitrary cultural mores. The religious have judged and rejected all people who did not accept their narrow guidelines. The non-religious have judged and rejected the religious because of their devotion to God. And all people purpose to harm all people who stand in the way of their culture controlling and manipulating all others.
Life on earth is not shalom. It is anti-peace.
Everyone wants peace. Most of us in the world recognize that we are all in trouble, that we don’t have peace, and all of us want to obtain it. Or create it. Or force it on others. To create shalom where there is no shalom is what the Bible calls “salvation.” Frankly, it is a utopian ideal, just like democracy is, just like capitalism is, just like communism. The difference is that the Bible claims that salvation—the creation of shalom in the world—is something that only God can do. Peace and justice cannot come simply from human effort or from anarchy. It must be a work of God that humans join with. But it is initiated by God.
Getting Better All The Time
The first step of God’s shalom-making was creation. God saw the chaos, the pointlessness of the world and made it again. And, according to Scripture, after God’s peace-making, He established humanity to rule over His creation and to keep it in shalom. This plan failed when humanity chose rebellion and chaos instead of God’s shalom.
Another step in God’s shalom-making was choosing Abraham. Abraham was not a perfect man, but he was a person who sought God alone, being faithful to Him, and trusting in Him when all else seemed chaotic. God chose Abraham because of his trust in God and said that whoever would obtain shalom, in all the world, they must be like Abraham and choose his path of trust. This plan failed because people thought that following the ritual of Abraham or being born into the family of Abraham obtained this shalom.
Another step in God’s shalom-making was to create a community of shalom with very specific rules. He chose for His people a nation in slavery—the outcast—so they would know how to treat those who were outcast. And He taught them His ways of love and shalom for all his people. This experiment failed in different ways, over the years. First, the people didn’t believe that God could really give them shalom. Then, they sought out other spiritual powers to grant them shalom. Then, they oppressed the poor, forgetting that they were once poor themselves. And finally, they took God’s rules and make them so burdensome that it became impossible to live them out.
Without exception, everyone has done wrong before God and become offensive to Him. But we all have been given the opportunity to be right before God through the deliverance from the slavery to sin and death which can be found in the Messiah Jesus. When the Father raised Jesus from an official execution, he showed him to be the path to be forgiven of our sins and to have a relationship with God. God proved his justice—which was called into question by him overlooking sins in the past and because of his patience—by making acceptable the one who enters into the devotion of Jesus, and so He proved his actions just….Jesus was given to the authorities to be punished because of our wrongs before God and Jesus was raised from his execution so that we could be made acceptable before God. Therefore, since we have been made acceptable by committed devotion, we have the shalom of God through our King, Messiah Jesus. It is because of Him that we have the right to speak to God and receive the blessings of God, on which we depend on for our very well-being. We boast in our confidence in being a part of God’s glory. You see, we can boast in the sufferings we receive—even as Jesus did—because we know that our suffering gives us the opportunity to stick with God. And sticking with God in the midst of suffering—even as Jesus did— is the test of our true devotion to God. And if our devotion is tested, then we have confidence—because if Jesus was raised by His enduring devotion, so will we. And this confidence will never be dashed because God’s love fills us through the Holy Spirit, given by God, to help us endure in the midst of our struggles. (Romans 3:23-26; 4:25-5:5 SKV)
Love Reign O’er Me
Finally, after all of these temporary experiments, God began his final plan for shalom. He sent his Son to be emperor of the world, ruler of his people. First, Jesus displayed shalom by setting people free from spiritual judgment, offering them freedom from diseases and mental illnesses and offering them a new life in God. Then he told the people the life of shalom in God, living by the principles of shalom. Then, finally, he allowed the rulers of God’s people—the priests and elders—to kill him, treating him as an outcast of God’s people. But God vindicated his Son as the only way to God’s shalom, the great Truth-teller. And a new people was created under Jesus, living Jesus’ shalom-principles and testing the world with their message of destruction of the anti-shalom and the establishment of God’s shalom.
The Underground Revolution
Through Jesus, God is continually creating communities of shalom—some big and some small. These communities are made up of those who were rejected by the world and who are baptized in Jesus—namely, those who have committed themselves to being citizens of Jesus’ new nation of shalom. These baptized are committed to Jesus’ principles of peace and justice. But these principles are not enough in and of themselves, because we all are too weak, as humans, to maintain shalom. So the Emperor has allowed us to receive the Holy Spirit, who helps us in our weakness to maintain shalom, even when we do not have the strength to live it out.
Would you like to be a part of this process of creating shalom, or peace and justice on earth? The first step is to commit yourself to Jesus by being baptized. And then you live out Jesus’ principles of peace. Begin now by praying this: “Jesus, I have messed my life up. Rule over my life and make me a new person. Teach me how to being peace and justice to the world and give me the Holy Spirit to remain in that peace myself.”
Hypocrisy: Living A Lie
What is hypocrisy?
The Greek is hupocrisis—to pretend to be what you are not; it is a word used for actors.
Hypocrites are those who seem to be people who love God and love others, but in reality, they are interested in something else—usually gaining a good reputation in this world, or wealth or importance. Hypocrites are “good” people on the surface, everyone says so, and so they think of themselves. But they never evaluate themselves by God or the Spirit, and they always ignore every call to change.
Below is what the Bible says about hypocrites, what they do and what will happen to them:
“Loving God” in hypocrisy
• Doing religious acts for the sake of others (Matthew 6:1-6 )
• Claiming to believe in God, but really trusting in the world (Daniel 11:32-34)
• Claiming to obey God, but ignoring his commands for your own (Mark 7:1-13)
• Emphasizing unimportant commands, and avoiding significant ones (Matthew 23:23)
• Focusing on how you look, rather than who you are (Matthew 23:25)
• Honoring the saints of old, but living opposed to their principles (Matthew 23:29-31)
• Thinking you can hide the truth of who you are from God and His people (Luke 12:1-3)
“Loving others” in hypocrisy
• Condemning others for their faults, while not seeing your own (Matthew 7:1-5)
• Demanding mercy from those who could judge you, but giving judgment to those under you (Matthew 18:23-35)
• Using God’s rules to hate, dishonor or not assist the needy or sinful (Luke 13:13-15; Matthew 24:49-51)
The next level
Teaching others to be hypocrites (Matthew 23:15)
Forcing others to be hypocrites (Matthew 23:4,13)
“Let love be without hypocrisy” Romans 12:9
If you see yourself in the above list of actions that hypocrites do, take it seriously! No matter how “good” of a Christian you think you are, Jesus will condemn you in the end! (Matthew 7:21-23). Hypocrisy is nothing to play with—it is worse than homosexuality, drugs and alcohol all together. If you do not see yourself for what you are, then this is what will happen to you:
The end result of hypocrites
• They will show themselves for who they really are (I Timothy 5:24; Luke 12:2)
• They will not enter God’s kingdom; They will be dishonored; They will be punished eternally (Matthew 23:33;Matthew 24:51)
What to do with hypocrites
If you know a hypocrite, make sure that you are sure. Ask them their motivation, and show them the verses that indicate their problem. Then follow these steps:
Don’t follow their practices (Matthew 23:3)
Correct them, if they are believers (Matthew 18:15-17)
Warn them of the consequences of their hypocrisy
Give them a chance to repent
Friends don’t let friends be hypocrites!
The Greek is hupocrisis—to pretend to be what you are not; it is a word used for actors.
Hypocrites are those who seem to be people who love God and love others, but in reality, they are interested in something else—usually gaining a good reputation in this world, or wealth or importance. Hypocrites are “good” people on the surface, everyone says so, and so they think of themselves. But they never evaluate themselves by God or the Spirit, and they always ignore every call to change.
Below is what the Bible says about hypocrites, what they do and what will happen to them:
“Loving God” in hypocrisy
• Doing religious acts for the sake of others (Matthew 6:1-6 )
• Claiming to believe in God, but really trusting in the world (Daniel 11:32-34)
• Claiming to obey God, but ignoring his commands for your own (Mark 7:1-13)
• Emphasizing unimportant commands, and avoiding significant ones (Matthew 23:23)
• Focusing on how you look, rather than who you are (Matthew 23:25)
• Honoring the saints of old, but living opposed to their principles (Matthew 23:29-31)
• Thinking you can hide the truth of who you are from God and His people (Luke 12:1-3)
“Loving others” in hypocrisy
• Condemning others for their faults, while not seeing your own (Matthew 7:1-5)
• Demanding mercy from those who could judge you, but giving judgment to those under you (Matthew 18:23-35)
• Using God’s rules to hate, dishonor or not assist the needy or sinful (Luke 13:13-15; Matthew 24:49-51)
The next level
Teaching others to be hypocrites (Matthew 23:15)
Forcing others to be hypocrites (Matthew 23:4,13)
“Let love be without hypocrisy” Romans 12:9
If you see yourself in the above list of actions that hypocrites do, take it seriously! No matter how “good” of a Christian you think you are, Jesus will condemn you in the end! (Matthew 7:21-23). Hypocrisy is nothing to play with—it is worse than homosexuality, drugs and alcohol all together. If you do not see yourself for what you are, then this is what will happen to you:
The end result of hypocrites
• They will show themselves for who they really are (I Timothy 5:24; Luke 12:2)
• They will not enter God’s kingdom; They will be dishonored; They will be punished eternally (Matthew 23:33;Matthew 24:51)
What to do with hypocrites
If you know a hypocrite, make sure that you are sure. Ask them their motivation, and show them the verses that indicate their problem. Then follow these steps:
Don’t follow their practices (Matthew 23:3)
Correct them, if they are believers (Matthew 18:15-17)
Warn them of the consequences of their hypocrisy
Give them a chance to repent
Friends don’t let friends be hypocrites!
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