What does everyone think the truth is that will be revealed? As a child I always questioned my sunday school and CCD classes. Somethings did not sit well with me. I believed in God and I still do, but I will admit I have strayed from my faith at times in my life . My wife brought me back full circle to my faith, but I still have questions and many issues with church and organized religions in general; although I love the messages received during mass. I believe that many of the messages and parables we learn are based on some sort of truth, but much is kept from us, and manipulated. As a child I thought that most religions were a fraud and the knowledge of the One True God had been hidden from us. This is still my belief today. I'm not sure faith and believing in God is enough though. I know many who think it is. I also know many who believe that God left us. God has not forsaken us, but it is my belief we must prove our worthy, through free will, in order to pass through the gates of heaven. But how is this done? I hope that this is part of the Great Awakening.
My thoughts are that this is a prison planet we are inmates until the time we can make the proper choices to ascend and prove ourselves worthy. That free will is our blessing and also our curse. I have tried to live a good life, but by what metric is that measured by? I know by the life I've lived, I'm not worthy of ascending. I'm not sure any of us truly know the requirements. I'm no biblical scholar, although I try and read up on the subject in looking for answers to questions I've had for my almost 50 years in this prison. That longing for answers have lead me to places much like these boards. Are answers in the biblical teachings; The 10 Commandments?. Jesus changed the rules of the Old Testament (but did he really?), but what happened to the souls of those who didn't live up to those standards, or those before Moses when the were given to Abraham Genesis 26:5: “Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”
If those are the requirements, How strict are they? If very, than I have failed miserably.
The first one: I am the Lord thy God! Thou shalt have no other Gods but me! I believe that and I have faith that Jesus is the Son of God and is God. I also think that man has manipulated what we truly know about Jesus. Is it a sin to not have faith in what man has imparted as the knowledge about God?
Second: Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain! I have failed miserably at this. The cultural normalization of saying "JC" after becoming mad or frustrated about something crept into my vocabulary. As I have aged the frequency of use has waned and I continue to correct myself. I have taken the Lord's name in vain out of anger of losing my young wife to a 5 year battle of breast cancer, slowly watching as man's medicine ripped her body apart and the cancer taking her from us too soon; in our selfish belief at least. Will God forgive such transgressions? During her battle, she never lost her faith. If I'm being honest, at times I strayed but seeing her faith only raised my own. He has blessed me since then with a wonderful life, but I know I'm still not worthy.
Third: Thou shalt keep the Sabbath Day Holy. Society for the most part ruined that one, as I have too.
Fourth: Thou shalt honor father and mother! I've done well with this one, but have made mistakes most make due to immaturity.
Fifth: Thou shalt not kill! To this day I'm good with this one. But many elite should fear me if I get a terminal illness, or harms children. God may be able to forgive all sins, but there are some I admit I am incapable of and that sin will get the better of me.
Sixth: Thou shalt not commit adultery! I remained true to my wife but early in our relationship I was corrupted by the temptation of porn. With my maturation I began to see the true evils of it and it's design to break down the foundation of family, and prey on the weak.
Seventh: Thou shall not steal. Younger days I would be guilty of little things, but depending on the severity of what is considered stealing then I have failed miserably. Napster corrupted me ;)
Eighth: Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor! I have been pretty true to this one as well, but am guilty of mud slinging once I have been attacked.
Ninth: Do not let thyself lust after thy neighbor’s wife! My neighbors wives are all liberal, so I'm good there.
Tenth: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, nor his farm, nor his cattle, nor anything that is his! I feel I've been pretty good with this one. I've always been content with what I have and what I have earned myself. I can't say I've been really jealous of what others have obtained. Some people might call it a lack of ambition, but I call it contentment.
Are good deeds enough to cancel out transgressions? Is belief enough no matter how horrible the sin? Are we playing a game where those in earthly power are hiding the true rules from us? Are we doomed to repeat the same mistakes in an endless loop, teaching our children, to make the same mistakes? I know it's a bit deep and endless rambling, but these are things I think about when the big reveal is proposed. I believe that we have been tricked into thinking that faith and belief is enough. God Bless.
Jesus was the big reveal.... The Gospel is simple...... He came here to show us the only way our sinful selves will ever be able to enter the sinless realm of God... Through the invitation of Jesus Christ himself. He took God's wrath upon his human body all for us and our sins. God knows we are not capable of ever being in a sinless state of being, could never follow all those laws completely as we are. So He incarnated as the Son of Man and took all of our transgressions for us, so all we need to do is repent (turn away from our sinful ways) and recognize Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Accept Him, and we are saved!!!
Yes, we all make mistakes along the path, but keep with repentance (turning towards God) and belief in His only Son our savior, and we will be all good at the end of this existence we know now and have a infinite future with Him!!
"Some people might call it a lack of ambition, but I call it contentment."
I have never been about that "keep up with the Jones'" life. I see so many people doing that and I never understood it. I have plenty of ambition in my life, to succeed, to provide for my family, to try to be a good person, but it never meant to have a nicer car or a bigger house to me... I don't care about those things as long as my kids are happy and safe.
Exactly. I am grateful for what I have. Grateful that I was blessed with the time I had with the strongest person I ever met on this earth. Grateful for my son and the many blessings I have received.
this is a prison planet and we are inmates until... we can make proper choices and ascend
You're almost right. Earth was created to be a perfect place where God and man could live in perfect fellowship, but mankind messed that up by choosing to reject God. So Earth can be thought of as a prison, but one of our own making. However, you can't ascend by making your own choices. No one is good enough to restore fellowship with God by their own good choices or good deeds. It is God who came down to us to make the way back to Him, and this was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The only way back to God is by acknowledging your faults and believing that Christ has already paid to have those faults cleared from your record. Then, on top of getting to be with God in heaven, you get the Holy Spirit here on earth to help guide you into all truth.
Regarding whether Jesus changed the rules in the Old Testament, He did and He didn't. Basically this boils down to the idea of dispensations, the idea that God has slightly different expectations for different people groups across time, with the overall plan of salvation (faith in Jesus Christ) staying the same. So the Israelites were expected to follow all the OT Law, but that's not how they got saved; they were saved by having faith in the coming Messiah, just as Christians today (we just know more about Him because He's already come once). Christians are no longer under the Law, but that doesn't mean we don't have rules. Any rule that Christians are expected to follow is repeated in some form in the New Testament. In fact, all the Ten Commandments are repeated save the keeping of the Sabbath day; the book of Hebrews goes into detail about how Christ is the fulfillment of the sabbath for us. Plus Christians have the Holy Spirit, who provides guidance on how to live your life if you listen.
You're on the right track, and it's good that you're devoting so much thought into this. My advice would be to get a Bible, read the New Testament for starters, and find a good church that teaches the Bible and only the Bible. The more you study, the more answers you will find. Best of luck to you.
Perhaps the key is, in order to ascend, we need to become INSTINCTIVELY good as opposed to RATIONALLY good. We need to be good for the sake of being good and doing good things, as opposed to weighing the risk/benefit ratio or making decisions based on reducing liability, as examples.
A local priest brought up this idea recently in a homily. Intriguing thought.
What does everyone think the truth is that will be revealed? As a child I always questioned my sunday school and CCD classes. Somethings did not sit well with me. I believed in God and I still do, but I will admit I have strayed from my faith at times in my life . My wife brought me back full circle to my faith, but I still have questions and many issues with church and organized religions in general; although I love the messages received during mass. I believe that many of the messages and parables we learn are based on some sort of truth, but much is kept from us, and manipulated. As a child I thought that most religions were a fraud and the knowledge of the One True God had been hidden from us. This is still my belief today. I'm not sure faith and believing in God is enough though. I know many who think it is. I also know many who believe that God left us. God has not forsaken us, but it is my belief we must prove our worthy, through free will, in order to pass through the gates of heaven. But how is this done? I hope that this is part of the Great Awakening.
My thoughts are that this is a prison planet we are inmates until the time we can make the proper choices to ascend and prove ourselves worthy. That free will is our blessing and also our curse. I have tried to live a good life, but by what metric is that measured by? I know by the life I've lived, I'm not worthy of ascending. I'm not sure any of us truly know the requirements. I'm no biblical scholar, although I try and read up on the subject in looking for answers to questions I've had for my almost 50 years in this prison. That longing for answers have lead me to places much like these boards. Are answers in the biblical teachings; The 10 Commandments?. Jesus changed the rules of the Old Testament (but did he really?), but what happened to the souls of those who didn't live up to those standards, or those before Moses when the were given to Abraham Genesis 26:5: “Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” If those are the requirements, How strict are they? If very, than I have failed miserably.
The first one: I am the Lord thy God! Thou shalt have no other Gods but me! I believe that and I have faith that Jesus is the Son of God and is God. I also think that man has manipulated what we truly know about Jesus. Is it a sin to not have faith in what man has imparted as the knowledge about God?
Second: Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain! I have failed miserably at this. The cultural normalization of saying "JC" after becoming mad or frustrated about something crept into my vocabulary. As I have aged the frequency of use has waned and I continue to correct myself. I have taken the Lord's name in vain out of anger of losing my young wife to a 5 year battle of breast cancer, slowly watching as man's medicine ripped her body apart and the cancer taking her from us too soon; in our selfish belief at least. Will God forgive such transgressions? During her battle, she never lost her faith. If I'm being honest, at times I strayed but seeing her faith only raised my own. He has blessed me since then with a wonderful life, but I know I'm still not worthy.
Third: Thou shalt keep the Sabbath Day Holy. Society for the most part ruined that one, as I have too.
Fourth: Thou shalt honor father and mother! I've done well with this one, but have made mistakes most make due to immaturity.
Fifth: Thou shalt not kill! To this day I'm good with this one. But many elite should fear me if I get a terminal illness, or harms children. God may be able to forgive all sins, but there are some I admit I am incapable of and that sin will get the better of me.
Sixth: Thou shalt not commit adultery! I remained true to my wife but early in our relationship I was corrupted by the temptation of porn. With my maturation I began to see the true evils of it and it's design to break down the foundation of family, and prey on the weak.
Seventh: Thou shall not steal. Younger days I would be guilty of little things, but depending on the severity of what is considered stealing then I have failed miserably. Napster corrupted me ;)
Eighth: Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor! I have been pretty true to this one as well, but am guilty of mud slinging once I have been attacked.
Ninth: Do not let thyself lust after thy neighbor’s wife! My neighbors wives are all liberal, so I'm good there.
Tenth: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, nor his farm, nor his cattle, nor anything that is his! I feel I've been pretty good with this one. I've always been content with what I have and what I have earned myself. I can't say I've been really jealous of what others have obtained. Some people might call it a lack of ambition, but I call it contentment.
Are good deeds enough to cancel out transgressions? Is belief enough no matter how horrible the sin? Are we playing a game where those in earthly power are hiding the true rules from us? Are we doomed to repeat the same mistakes in an endless loop, teaching our children, to make the same mistakes? I know it's a bit deep and endless rambling, but these are things I think about when the big reveal is proposed. I believe that we have been tricked into thinking that faith and belief is enough. God Bless.
Jesus was the big reveal.... The Gospel is simple...... He came here to show us the only way our sinful selves will ever be able to enter the sinless realm of God... Through the invitation of Jesus Christ himself. He took God's wrath upon his human body all for us and our sins. God knows we are not capable of ever being in a sinless state of being, could never follow all those laws completely as we are. So He incarnated as the Son of Man and took all of our transgressions for us, so all we need to do is repent (turn away from our sinful ways) and recognize Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Accept Him, and we are saved!!!
Yes, we all make mistakes along the path, but keep with repentance (turning towards God) and belief in His only Son our savior, and we will be all good at the end of this existence we know now and have a infinite future with Him!!
"Some people might call it a lack of ambition, but I call it contentment."
I have never been about that "keep up with the Jones'" life. I see so many people doing that and I never understood it. I have plenty of ambition in my life, to succeed, to provide for my family, to try to be a good person, but it never meant to have a nicer car or a bigger house to me... I don't care about those things as long as my kids are happy and safe.
Exactly. I am grateful for what I have. Grateful that I was blessed with the time I had with the strongest person I ever met on this earth. Grateful for my son and the many blessings I have received.
You're almost right. Earth was created to be a perfect place where God and man could live in perfect fellowship, but mankind messed that up by choosing to reject God. So Earth can be thought of as a prison, but one of our own making. However, you can't ascend by making your own choices. No one is good enough to restore fellowship with God by their own good choices or good deeds. It is God who came down to us to make the way back to Him, and this was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The only way back to God is by acknowledging your faults and believing that Christ has already paid to have those faults cleared from your record. Then, on top of getting to be with God in heaven, you get the Holy Spirit here on earth to help guide you into all truth.
Regarding whether Jesus changed the rules in the Old Testament, He did and He didn't. Basically this boils down to the idea of dispensations, the idea that God has slightly different expectations for different people groups across time, with the overall plan of salvation (faith in Jesus Christ) staying the same. So the Israelites were expected to follow all the OT Law, but that's not how they got saved; they were saved by having faith in the coming Messiah, just as Christians today (we just know more about Him because He's already come once). Christians are no longer under the Law, but that doesn't mean we don't have rules. Any rule that Christians are expected to follow is repeated in some form in the New Testament. In fact, all the Ten Commandments are repeated save the keeping of the Sabbath day; the book of Hebrews goes into detail about how Christ is the fulfillment of the sabbath for us. Plus Christians have the Holy Spirit, who provides guidance on how to live your life if you listen.
You're on the right track, and it's good that you're devoting so much thought into this. My advice would be to get a Bible, read the New Testament for starters, and find a good church that teaches the Bible and only the Bible. The more you study, the more answers you will find. Best of luck to you.
The neighbors wives all being liberal made me LOL.
Perhaps the key is, in order to ascend, we need to become INSTINCTIVELY good as opposed to RATIONALLY good. We need to be good for the sake of being good and doing good things, as opposed to weighing the risk/benefit ratio or making decisions based on reducing liability, as examples.
A local priest brought up this idea recently in a homily. Intriguing thought.