Category: Doctrine

The Three Branches of God

GOD [Holy Spirit]

The LAW                                                                                                                                                                                                                         JESUS

The three branches of God is not unlike our system of government:  the executive branch (president), the legislative branch (the law), and the judicial branch (making sure the law does not abuse its power).  When we falsely think of the trinity as God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit we miss a crucial part of the system–the real trinity–which is God’s Holy Spirit [or rhema the Living Word of God], the Law from the Prophets, and Jesus’ message of God’s Love and grace.

Currently, it is popular in modern Christianity to ignore the Law, which makes it impossible to be obedient to God.  It takes more than the New Testament, Jesus, or the concept of the three-in-one trinity to keep us in God’s good graces.  It takes obedience, love, and faith.  Obedience comes in the Law of God, laid out in the Old Testament Torah, and to a lesser degree, the major Prophets.  Jesus brings us the love [and with it, grace] of God and enables us to see the forest, not just the trees.  And faith comes from knowing our God, and having His Holy Spirit move through us.  All these are necessary for Truth!  We cannot find God’s Truth by simply having one or even two facets of this, which is what we have when we adhere to the false concept of the traditional trinity as laid out by the Council of Nicaea.

The very reason the US government is set up like this is to keep the branches in balance.  Law without Love is what we had with the Pharisees and Sadducees.  The Holy Spirit without the Law or Jesus can leave us seeking God, yet sinful.  And Jesus’ Love without the Law can lead us into a false sense of security, and to act out of false doctrines.

We need all three facets of God’s Truth to be holy and pure.

For the Law was…

For the Law was given through Moses, but grace and Truth came through Jesus Christ. ~John1:17

The New Covenant Is Jesus

Originally posted on October 11, 2013

Jesus was created by God, and born under circumstances which promoted him to fulfill the prophecy of many, to become God’s divine Messiah.  Messiah is the highest place on the Hierarchy of Holiness.  Jesus was the Son of God.  A Son of God is a man who is most holy in God’s eyes, and whom comes to deliver a specific message from God to His people, His Chosen Ones.

Hundreds of years before Jesus was born, many prophesied about the coming Messiah.  This is one of my favorite prophecies in the Book of Jeremiah:

“Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD,

“That I will raise to David

a Branch of righteousness;

A King shall reign and prosper,

And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.

In his days Judah will be saved,

And Israel will dwell safely;

Now this is his name by which he will be called:

The Lord Our Righteousness”  ~Jeremiah 23:5-6

The main mission of Jesus was to be the perfect sacrificial lamb to make atonement for our sins, and the sins of the whole world, for all future time.  He knew he was destined to die for the sins of the world, probably from a young age.  I suspect he studied with scribes and holy men at Wadi Qumran, in a private settlement on top of the mountains overlooking the Dead Sea.  This is also where the Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah and other scrolls were found, as they had apparently been carefully hidden in a dry, remote cave, and safely preserved for thousands of years.  Jesus knew his Old Testament well, and quoted it often, as evidenced by the Gospels.  He also knew the Law well, and some of my most favorite verses are when he retorts back to the devil’s temptations by directly quoting God’s Law.  He was obviously a good Jew.

But he also came to give us a fresh message of who God was, and to clean things up, as a true Prophet.  His original Beatitudes and Lord’s Prayer; his counter argument to Moses’ divorce decree; his miraculous healing in God’s name; his cleansing of the temple; and his admonition to men that God’s love was unconditional, and therefore common and good man must not judge his neighbor and stone him to death; were all things that were new and fresh.

Many think incorrectly that the Last Supper scenario illustrated in the Book of John, whereby Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, means something about the master serving the slave, or some other contrived message.  It did not mean that.  Jesus, knowing the Law well, was performing a necessary cleansing ritual to make his disciples Priests, as outlined in Leviticus (see my post on Laws for God’s People for more details).  He removed his clothes (part of the ritual) and said to Peter, when Peter questioned him as to why Jesus was washing his feet,

“What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this…If I do not wash you, you have no part with me.”  ~John 13:7,8

Because being clean is very important in God’s Law.  Priests must undergo a ritualistic ceremony where they are cleansed, brought into the sanctuary, and atonement is made for them.  Then they are deemed worthy to serve God as Priests.  The next part of the ritual is to kill the sacrificial beast, bleed it, and sprinkle its blood on the altar (because it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul), burn the fat and part of the animal on the altar for a sweet aroma to the LORD, and finally to eat of part of the meat of the animal, and to enjoy drink offerings, and bread offerings.  Jesus knew in a matter of days he was going to become that sacrificial beast, so he was making them worthy by making them Priests in this priestly ceremony of cleansing.  And he would follow it up with symbolically having them eat his body as bread, and drink his blood as wine:  the Last Supper or the Priestly Ritual:

“This is my body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me…This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you.”  ~Luke 22:19,20

 In this way he was fulfilling all the Law.  He would fulfill the Prophets once he died and ascended into heaven.  Thus, he uttered,

“It is finished.”  ~John 19:30

His disciples are now Priests, because Jesus made them Priests.  They will become Apostles once they set out and start preaching God’s message, and the gospel of Christ.

Another place in Jeremiah that prophesied about Jesus unmistakably is entitled “A New Covenant” (Jeremiah 31:31):

“Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant

with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah–not according to the covenant

that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand

to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband

to them,” says the LORD.  ”But this is the covenant that I will make with the house if Israel

after those days,” says the LORD:  ”I will put My Law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God,

and they shall be My people….

For they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the 

greatest of them,” says the LORD.  ”For I will

forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”  ~Jeremiah 31:31-34

Jesus is the New Covenant, to us from God.  He died for our sins, once and for all.  We only need to invoke his name and the memory of his passion and sacrifice for us, with a contrite heart, to be redeemed unto God.  Jesus is NOT God.  But he is the embodiment of the holiest state man can attain on earth; he is our primary Messiah.  He is the way for the whole world to know about God.  And God wants this, for Christianity to spread God’s Divine Message and Love, so that every living soul knows God.

Thank You, LORD God for this sacred gift of your beloved Son.  Amen.

The Veil, Mended

Originally posted on September 11, 2013

Recently, a very astute and learned fellow and I discussed the bible, and I mentioned that I felt confession to a priest was one thing I think the Catholic church got right (along with some sacraments and rituals), but he countered with the popular protestant belief that when Christ died the veil was torn, making priests no longer a necessary bridge between God and man.  That simply having the concept of Jesus in one’s heart and mind was enough to make one holy in God’s eyes.  Current Christians, protestants and Catholics alike, have adopted the notion that there are two tiers:  God and man.  Priests have been relegated to ceremonial status, or are respected as teachers; but are not really considered to be any more holy than any other man.

However, there is a hierarchy of holiness, if you will, that does exist.  As one transcends the ladder unto Heaven where God resides, he becomes more holy.  As he becomes more holy, he obtains more Godliness.  The highest man can go would be to be like Jesus, which is the goal of all good Christians.  As one obtains more Godliness he also obtains more power, by the grace of God, in the forms of omnipotence, omniscience, and omnibenevolence.  The primary purpose of a priest’s life is to serve the LORD.  But priests also have the ability to minister to man on God’s behalf.  Jesus gave priests the power in God’s name to go forth and forgive sins, exemplified at the last supper, especially in John 20:21-23:

So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

So for man to think that it is enough to think he is sorry for a sin, or to feel sorry for a sin, and that Jesus’ perfect death erases any need for a priest, is not scriptural and is not serving him fully; he is not going to reap the reward that true repentance and confession and forgiveness from a priest would allow.

I found a Catholic commentary on this subject and wanted to share it as it describes the benefits of confessing to a priest:

“The Advantages [of Confessing to a Priest]~

Is the Catholic who confesses his sins to a priest any better off than the non-Catholic who confesses directly to God? Yes.

First, he seeks forgiveness the way Christ intended.

Second, by confessing to a priest, the Catholic learns a lesson in humility, which is avoided when one confesses only through private prayer.

Third, the Catholic receives sacramental graces the non-Catholic doesn’t get; through the sacrament of penance, sins are forgiven and graces are obtained.

Fourth, the Catholic is assured that his sins are forgiven; he does not have to rely on a subjective “feeling.”

Lastly, the Catholic can also obtain sound advice on avoiding sin in the future.

During his lifetime Christ sent out his followers to do his work. Just before he left this world, he gave the apostles special authority [The last supper washing of feet of the apostles and eating of the body and blood of Christ illustrates the ceremony of the consecration of priests in the Old Testament Torah] commissioning them to make God’s forgiveness present to all people, and the whole Christian world accepted this, until just a few centuries ago. If there is an “invention” here, it is not the sacrament of penance, but the notion that the sacramental forgiveness of sins is not to be found in the Bible or in early Christian history.”  ~Taken from http://www.catholic.com/tracts/the-forgiveness-of-sins

I’d like to add that Jesus himself stated he did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.  He made a new covenant, yes, but he replaced the need for daily animal sacrifice, and instead of priests taking on the people’s iniquity, he took it on himself.  The sacraments set forth by Moses were not abrogated by these things.

~Mary

Legalism versus Conceptualism

Originally posted on September 1, 2013

The way we believe as Christians currently is very conceptualistic, especially compared to the legalism of orthodox Judaism, as manifested in Jesus’ day, and before.  The Old Testament Torah is rife with hundreds upon hundreds of commandments, statutes, ordinances, and judgments that the children of Israel had to follow according to Moses, and those who put the oral tradition to paper, beginning in King David’s time.

Every day, Priests of the house of Aaron, of the house of Levi, had to offer, morning and evening, a fresh, clean, animal for sacrifice to atone for the people’s sins.  Not only could the common folk not come before the LORD, they could not even come near the tabernacle of meeting except to make their sin and peace offerings and tithes to the Priests and the Priests helpers.  And even Aaron and his sons and descendants could only go behind the veil to minister before the mercy seat–the actual presence of God–once per year, on the Day of Atonement.

It was necessary for the Messiah to come and to deliver man out of that impossible state.  Not only was it a blood bath daily, but the judgments handed out, even by Moses, were cruel, reminiscent of Hammurabi’s “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” law, carved into a code for the masses hundreds of years before.

So when Jesus came, and was accepted (eventually) as the perfect propitiation for our sins, and the sins of the whole world forever, what a relief it must have been!!  As the perfect Lamb of God, it became no longer necessary to sacrifice innocent animals daily to make man worthy.  Man was still unworthy, but Jesus made man new if man would only accept that Jesus was taking the place of the sacrificial beasts, and taking sin upon himself by dying willingly.

Jesus also preached a fresh message about God’s Love.  God in the OT was harsh and a discerning taskmaster more than he was a loving forgiver.  Oh, yes, he forgave the Hebrews much grumblings and times when they fell away from Him in the Wilderness, but God was definitely a harsh Elohim who could and would punish those for even questioning His rule; and He did it time and time again, as illustrated in the Old Testament.

It wasn’t that God became loving after Jesus, it is that when man first came to be monotheistic, it was in an atmosphere of polytheism where kings had godly attributes and could strike anyone down for anything; it was a harsh environment in which man lived.  So, the early tradition of the patriarchs saw God as the the One True God and divine, but in a way that replaced the all powerful impulsive pagan gods, but still held the basic aire of awesomeness and fearfulness that man had regarding his god; a primitive superstition that it is hard for us to understand across the deserts of time.  They were truly God-fearing.

Not many today would say they were God-fearing.  We have watered God down so that He is not so miraculous and wonderful as he was in the ancient times of our religion.  Men attributed almost everything to God’s signs and wonders in the early days of our faith, which is evident in the mythical stories of the Bible.  But now we place God somewhere in the middle of that great continuum and give him attribution and glory when WE feel it’s due; He doesn’t smite people anymore, He doesn’t have the ability (according to many) to heal miraculously anymore, He just sort-of hangs out loving us and watching us go about our way, without intervening in too fearful or too wonderful a way.

What happened to evoke this change in our outlook about God?  The are many reasons, but for now I want to focus on this part of it:  I think it was in large part due to our taking God out of our daily reality and putting him out of graspable bounds, into an abstract world we rarely have to contemplate.  The Hebrews had their tabernacle set in the midst of them.  Their whole world revolved around worshiping God daily through the Priests, making offerings of restitution and peace to the Priests, confessing to the Priests, and asking the Priests for atonement with God and judgments for conflicts in daily life.  Via blood sacrifice of animals and laws they could not overlook, like never eating blood, because the blood of an animal was too sacred for man to eat; and never eating fat because the fat was a sweet offering for the LORD; and laws like these, it was hard for man to escape his responsibility to God, and his role as congregant.

When Jesus came on the scene, he unbloodied the atonement ritual, which needed to happen.  Blood sacrifice smacked of pagan roots, though it was a necessary bridge for man being humbled before the LORD because the life is in the blood.  Ancient man revered this right of ceremony, and needed that to make atonement for their souls.  But Jesus did not erase all the Law, as much as he refined it.

Later, men came to start regarding Jesus as God, and this was a cemented decree at the Council of Nicaea in AD 325.  If Jesus replaces God, then it follows that everything Jesus said could replace everything in the Old Testament.  There is no surprise then that Christians rely too heavily on the New Testament, leaving the wisdom of the Old Testament to the dust of the ages.  Many Christians today cite the Two Great Commandments as the only ones needing to be followed.  They ignore the hundreds of other laws in the OT that God said, “This will be a statute for future generations, forever”!, and they allow any common folk to come directly before the LORD, no matter what sins they may have committed or whether they have sought proper restitution and forgiveness with a holy Priest.  Unless they are Catholic, they don’t even confess their sins anymore, and it’s doubtful most Catholics even still do attend confession.

They took liberties with Christ’s mission, and made Christ a thought and an action in place of God, whereby all that is required now in the eyes of most Christian doctrine is that one believes in Christ as Messiah and falsely, Christ as God, and all will be well with that person spiritually.  That one simply understands the concept of Christ for their life, and it will all be made right.

For nearly two millenium we have had man believing in the One True God.  Man was God-fearing and God, through Moses, made a lot of laws (some not from Moses) to keep man obedient.  Now for nearly two millenium we have man believing that the One True God is divided into three pieces and that just understanding that concept is enough to be obedient, that God is Loving.

The fact is that there is One True God.  He is to be feared and to be as friend.  He has laid out many laws for us to follow in every realm of our lives–spiritual, personal, familial, relational, financial, and societal, which can keep us obedient and successful.  We need those laws to be tangible and in our daily lives just as we need to understand they are sometimes intangible.  Jesus is not the answer.  God is the answer!  Jesus is a new bridge to God.  We cannot replace God with Jesus.  We cannot replace Priests with people.  We cannot replace daily worship to God merely with mindfulness of Jesus.

It takes love for God, faith (holding fast to Him at all times), and obedience (to walk in His ways), to come into the realm of God.  That is the holy trinity.

Love,

~Mary

The Holy Eucharist

Originally posted on August 16, 2013

To be celebrated daily by the Priest:

The Word of God

Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

And blessed be His kingdom, now and for ever.

Amen.

Bless the LORD who forgiveth all our sins. His mercy endureth for ever.

Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of Thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love Thee, and worthily magnify Thy holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Shema

Hear, O Chosen Ones: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart; you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. [deuteronomy 6:4-9]

Therefore, you shall love the LORD your God, and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments always. And it shall be that if you diligently obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the LORD your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled. Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them, lest the LORD’s anger be aroused against you, and He shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and you perish quickly from the good land which the LORD is giving you. Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. And you shall write them on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth. [Deuteronomy 11:1, 13-21]

Speak to the children of God: Tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners. And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the LORD and do them, and that you may not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined, and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God.” Amen. [Numbers 15:37-41]

Pick up your cross and Bible and carry them wherever you go, for all to see, so that we might always and everywhere proclaim our adoration and worship of the One Great LORD Almighty~

Holy God,

Holy Mighty, Father Abba,

Sovereign Immortal One,

Have mercy upon us.

Glory be to God on high,

and on earth peace, good will towards men.

We praise Thee, we bless Thee,

we worship Thee,

we glorify Thee,

we give thanks to Thee for thy great glory!

God’s Creed

I believe in one LORD, one God,

Father of all creation, I AM WHO I AM,

Who has always existed and will always exist.

He is Warrior and Nurturer, Master and Friend.

I believe that, by the grace of God,

The Holy Spirit infuses us with

Guidance and wisdom if we only

Draw close to Him and allow Him to enter us fully.

I believe in all His Law and all His Prophets,

And that His Word is The Truth inasmuch as

It bespeaks His divine will,

Which is also the perfect plan for our lives.

That by God’s divine will, Jesus Christ was sent

To be our Lord Messiah,

The perfect propitiation for our sins,

And that by proclaiming and acknowledging

His sacrifice for us, we may be redeemed unto God.

I believe that through Love, Faith, and Obedience

We can draw close to our LORD

And enter His realm, which is unconditional Love.

He will make straight our paths,

And grace us with abundance for

‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard,

no mind has conceived

what God has prepared for those who love Him.’

Amen.

The Prayers of the People

Almighty and everliving God, Who in Thy holy Word hast taught us to make prayers, and supplications, and to give thanks for all men: Receive these our prayers which we offer unto Thy Divine Majesty, beseeching Thee to inspire continually the Universal Church with the spirit of truth, unity, and concord; and grant that all those who do confess Thy holy Name may agree in the truth of Thy holy Word, and live in unity and Godly Love.

Give grace, O Heavenly Father, to all Priests, that they may, both by their life and doctrine, set forth Thy true and lively Word, and rightly and duly administer Thy holy commandments, statutes, judgments, and sacraments.

And to all Thy people give Thy heavenly grace; that, with meek heart and due reverence, they may hear and receive Thy holy Word, truly serving Thee in holiness and righteousness all the days of their life.

We beseech Thee also so to rule the hearts of those who bear the authority of government in this and every land, that they may be led to wise decisions and right actions for the welfare and peace of the world.

Open, O LORD, the eyes of all people to behold thy gracious hand in all Thy works, that, rejoicing in Thy whole creation, they may honor Thee with their substance, and be faithful stewards of Thy bounty.

And we most humbly beseech Thee, of Thy goodness, O LORD, to comfort and succor all those who, in this transitory life, are in trouble, sorrow, need, sickness, or any other adversity.

And we beseech Thee to grant us grace so to follow the good examples of Thy Prophets and Saints, that with them we may be partakers of Thy heavenly kingdom.

Grant these our prayers, O Father, for Jesus Christ’s sake, our redeemer, mediator, and advocate. Amen.

Confession of Sin

Most merciful God,

we confess that we have sinned against you

in thought, word, and deed,

by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.

We have not loved you with our whole heart;

we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.

We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.

For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,

please have mercy on us and forgive us;

that we may delight in your will,

and walk in your ways,

to the glory of your Name.  Amen.

And now, as our Savior Jesus Christ hath taught us, we are bold to say,

“Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be Thy Name,

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us,

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,

for ever and ever. Amen.”

The Breaking of the Bread

Alleluia. Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us!

[wave offering of bread and wine]

The body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for us, preserve our body and soul unto everlasting life. I take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died for me, and feed on him in my heart by faith, with thanksgiving.

The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was shed for us, preserve our body and soul unto everlasting life.  I drink this in remembrance that Christ’s blood was shed for me, and am thankful.

The body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ keep us in everlasting life. Amen.

Lord God, Almighty and everlasting Father, You have brought us in safety to this new day:  Preserve us with your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

The LORD bless you and keep you,

The LORD make His face shine upon you,

And be gracious to you.

The LORD look upon you with favor,

And give you peace.

Let us go forth in the name of Christ. Thanks be to God!

God’s Creed

Originally posted on August 16, 2013

I believe in one LORD, one God,

Father of all creation, I AM WHO I AM,

Who has always existed and will always exist.

He is Warrior and Nurturer, Master and Redeemer.

I believe that, by the grace of God,

the Holy Spirit infuses us with

guidance and wisdom if we only

draw close to Him and allow Him to enter us fully.

I believe in all His Law and all His Prophets,

and that His Word is The Truth inasmuch as

it bespeaks His divine will,

which is also the perfect plan for our lives.

That by God’s divine will, Jesus Christ was sent

to be our Lord Messiah,

the perfect propitiation for our sins,

and that by proclaiming and acknowledging

his sacrifice for us, we may be redeemed unto God.

I believe that through Love, Faith, and Obedience

we can draw close to our LORD

and enter His realm, which is unconditional Love.

He will make straight our paths,

and grace us with abundance for

‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard,

no mind has conceived

what God has prepared for those who love Him.’

Amen.