In the year of our Lord 2014
Created by Brother Korey son of Robin
Dearest Catechumen of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
I am writing this to endeavor to clarify the confusion some of you have brought up to me over the letters written by our beloved brothers Matthew, also known as Levi, Mark, also called John, Luke, the beloved doctor who was a close companion of Paul, and John, the one whom the Lord loved. Peace and grace be unto you through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Many of you have wondered as to the "discrepancies" found between these Gospel accounts. You have found several events that you feel are inaccuracies, as if the Gospels of these beloved saints are not in harmony with one another. This is because of the teaching of many that the things that have been written by men could not possibly be accurate, for the common thought is that men are imperfect. Therefore, how could imperfect men write perfectly accurate accounts of anything?
Be careful, my children, not to listen to the philosophies of those who would claim to be wise. Keep in mind that they are all those who Satan has blinded with darkness. They confess to be wise, but they are cloaked in foolishness. They claim to be able to see, but they are blinded by the lies of those things spoken in the past by men who claimed wisdom. Think for yourselves! Can men be perfect? Yes! By all means, a man can be perfect. If man could not ever be perfect then our Lord Jesus would not have been able to come here and be perfect himself and yet still relate to us in our condition. He proved that a man can indeed be perfect. However, we choose to not to be perfect. We choose quite often the things of this world over the things of God. It is not that we can’t be perfect. It is that we desire to do whatsoever we want when we want and where we want.
Think of it in this manner. In Luke’s Gospel account, in the second chapter and verse 22 we read, "When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord", and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: "a pair of doves or two young pigeons."" This is a Law of Moses. Every man should fulfill this law. If man is not able to be perfect, could he fulfill this law? No. If man is not capable of being perfect then he could not even perform this one little task perfectly. However, our Lord’s earthly parents, Mary and Joseph, fulfilled this law perfectly according as they were supposed to, as it was written for them to do in the Law of Moses. They did not make an error. They did it perfectly.
In the same way, which of you is unable to follow a simple instruction perfectly? If I say, "Please go to the market and purchase for me an urn," can you not go to the market and purchase for me an urn? How hard would that be for you to do? Could you not carry out that order perfectly? I did not even tell you which type of urn I am looking for, so it would not even be difficult in that regard. All you would have to do is purchase any urn whatsoever, and you would have succeeded in perfectly doing the task I had set out for you to do.
So the problem with this philosophy that men cannot do something perfectly is foolishness. The true issue is that it is hard for anyone to believe that these men were inspired by the Holy Spirit of God to write perfectly error-free accounts of the events that occurred in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. (This you will find written in your lesson guide in Chapter 1 Lesson 2 under The True Source.) They have a hard time believing that God spoke to these men and dictated to them what they should write through the power of His Holy and Magnificent Spirit. Should we, though, as believers have a hard time believing this truth? Do we not believe that through this same Spirit we have Christ living within us? Are we not the temple of the Spirit? Did not Paul write to the Corinthians in his first letter, in chapter six and verse nineteen, "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?" If this Holy Spirit is within us then why do we doubt that He can and does inspire His people by giving us perfect truth?
Think also of this, dear brothers. Did not Paul also teach that "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness?" Did he not write this to Timotheus, whom he called son, in his second letter in chapter 3 verse 16? If scripture is "God-breathed" is it not also possible that the Gospel writers have written scripture as well which is "God-breathed" and therefore perfect?
Here is another thing to consider. Could it be possible for a perfect God to write imperfect scripture? Do we not believe that Christ is perfect? The accounts say that He is along with all of the letters that write about Him. He was tempted and yet did no sin. Can God make mistakes? Is it logical to even consider? I should hope not. If God is not perfect then He is vulnerable. Only those who can be imperfect are vulnerable to attack. If I was perfect I would not be vulnerable. I would be invincible. Why? A person who can make mistakes will make mistakes. All it takes is another person to wait for that person to make a mistake and then the other person will use that mistake against him. All of the history of mankind shows examples of this over and over again. Even the greatest men have their "Achilles" heels.
Christ proved once and for all that God is perfect. Here was God in the flesh. God had come to earth as it was written of him in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, and also John made mention of this when he said, "The Word became flesh" in the first chapter verse fourteen. He lived a perfectly sinless life which was proven when Jesus went into the desert and was tempted by Satan. (This you will find written in your lesson guide in Chapter 5 Lesson 3 under The Temptation of Christ.) Remember what is written in Matthew’s Gospel chapter four, Mark’s Gospel chapter one and Luke’s Gospel chapter four. All of these attest to the temptation of our Lord and how he defeated even the greatest of temptations without sin. He, who trusted that the Father could "command his angels concerning" Jesus to keep him from striking his "foot against a stone" would not bend a knee to Satan nor cast himself off the temple to prove that He was who He knew He was. He was tempted and he triumphed over even the greatest of temptations.
But even this is not proof enough for some because they did not personally experience Christ’s perfect triumph over sin. So, let us think about perfection in another manner that is logical. In order for something to be eternal it would have to be perfect. Imperfection leads to destruction and end. Perfection leads to eternity. Think of it. If something is perfect it will never end. Why? As I said, if something is perfect it will not have a weakness. A perfect suit of armor has no break, crack or flaw. Nothing could break it or dent it or crack it, if it is perfect. It would endure even time. Only an imperfectly made suit of armor could be broken. Something stronger than it could break it or rust would eventually weaken it and destroy it. Therefore, perfect leads to never-ending. Imperfect leads to ending.
Think of it in another way. Begin counting. Can counting ever end? No. You could end, but counting never could. You could count forever forwards and you could count forever backwards. You could begin at zero and count one, two, three, etc. or count negative one, two, three, etc. endlessly. Why? Because the number line is perfect. It always has an element that is constant and an element that varies. The constant is the pattern zero through nine. It repeats over and over. The variable is adding another number to the constant every time you count zero through nine. However, even the variable is set into an unchanging pattern. This pattern is perfectly unbroken. 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and I add a 1 to the 0 to get 10 and start all over again. When I get to 99 I start all over again with 0 adding another number to get 100.
Notice that the number line always moves forward. It is not just a circle that loops around and around again going nowhere as some are in the habit of thinking about the universe. Oh certainly the numbers zero through nine seem like a loop, but because there is a slight variable the number line is a line and not a circle. You don’t just go from 0 to 9 and then 0 to 9 again. You go 0 to 9 and then 10 through 19 and so on. When you reach 9 you go forward on to 10. You do not just loop back around to the exact same number zero.
And as you can see, this is a perfect example of how something can be eternal. Not only can it be eternal but if you notice it is perfect and flawless. If ever I was able to break the pattern the entire eternal aspect of the number line is broken. For example, 0, 1, 2, 3, 3, 4, 2, 3, 4, 2, 3, 4, 4, 8, 6, 1, 2, 9, 8…etc. In this example, when would I add a 1 to create 10? It is all random and is not perfect. I could not endlessly count this except to endlessly count random numbers as if bouncing around in some chaotic manner. This would be chaos and have no logic or sense.
But our universe clearly has logic and sense. It is clearly made up of patterns and order. Even look at our own bodies. They are symmetrical. As it is written in the letter to the Corinthians in the twelfth chapter verse eighteen through twenty, "But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body." So it makes sense, does it not, that a God of order made a body that is so delicately balanced, each member serving the others in perfect harmony. Does our body seem like it was randomly made like in the number pattern above or does it seem like our body was placed in some order so it would have optimal function?
But some would say, "Our bodies are not designed in the most efficient way possible!" "Why do we not have tails? Aren’t tails beneficial to animals who have them?" "Why do we not have more hair to stay warm in colder climates?" "Why do we not have scales to protect us from harm?"
The answer is simple, my brethren. I do not say this to shame you. I say this to enlighten you. Look around you. Does it not make sense that our bodies were not made for fighting? Does it not make sense that our bodies were not made for cold climates? Does it not make sense that our bodies were not made for the things the bodies of animals were made for? What were our bodies designed to do?
Our bodies were designed for pleasure. We were designed to enjoy this world. We were designed to do whatsoever we want, when we want, where we want. We were designed to live as we wanted to live. We were designed to be our own masters. Our bodies attest to this. That is why our skin is soft. It was designed to be tender so that we could experience pleasure at the slightest touch. Our bodies were not designed with fur to survive in cold, harsh climates because we were designed to enjoy warm, tropical climates. We were not made to work. We were made to relax and have fun.
But as it is told in the scriptures written by Moses, in the book of Genesis, mankind rebelled against God. He made us to be ignorant to His laws and His ways. Therefore, if we were ignorant to His laws and His ways we would not have to live by them. Because of this we could live as we chose to live and do whatever we wanted. We wouldn’t ever have to kill or work or fight or anything, as our bodies attest that we were designed to be.
Adam, however, rebelled, as it is written in chapter three of Genesis. Adam and Even, the first of mankind, wanted to be like God. They wanted to know good and evil. They wanted to know God’s laws. God told them that if they knew his ways they would surely die, for He knew they were not designed for this. They rejected His commands and ate of the fruit which gave them the knowledge of good and evil. The fruit opened their eyes so they would know in their hearts what God thought was right and wrong. From that moment on, mankind could no longer live as they wanted. They could no longer do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted and wherever they wanted. They were subject to God’s laws.
And so, the punishment for sin was brought upon us. Death reigned in our lives. We were created perfect in every way. We were created as a perfectly designed creature who could enjoy ourselves in whatever way we wanted. However, we chose imperfection and thus we threw random numbers into the midst of the perfect number line God had made, if you understand my metaphor.
Did God make a mistake? No. By far He did not. As we established, God cannot err or He would not be eternal. That is like saying you can have a number line that can have a random number pattern thrown into it and it won’t just become a scrambled mess. No, God is perfect. He created us perfect. How is this? We sinned. We committed error and sinned.
The answer is, in order for God to create people like Himself with free will, which is evident in chapter one through three of Genesis, who were not just mindless drones obeying without thought the Creator, God had to give us the ability to choose. He perfectly made us with the ability to choose perfection or imperfection. How could He make a perfect being with free will without giving them a choice as to whether or not to choose to obey Him or not? He could not. He had to give them a choice. All they had to do was obey one little thing. All they had to do was not eat of one type of fruit in all the universe.
But they could not. And neither can we live without choosing sin in our lives. It is not that we cannot be without sin. Often we can choose to reject sin in our lives. However, we choose to not live without sin. We choose almost daily to sin with the words that we flippantly say or the actions we carelessly do.
And yet, even though men can and many times are imperfect, God never makes mistakes. He is perfect. Therefore, doesn’t it make sense that if God is perfect that he can and would use an imperfect man, imperfect sometimes and perfect sometimes, to write a perfect account of His own earthly life? What do you think is more perfect? Is it more perfect for a perfect man to write his own account to imperfect people? Or do you think it is perfect for an imperfect man, who can relate perfectly to imperfect people because he is imperfect, to write a perfect account in his own way of the perfect man? In other words, God used imperfect people to write perfect accounts of His life, death and resurrection so that the imperfect people could relate perfectly to the imperfect people who would read it.
After all, who would you want to listen to more? Would you want to listen to a man who has messed up just as much as you and is trying to tell you how to receive the same forgiveness he has, or would you rather listen to a man who has never messed up, who is, when you put it simply, better than you at everything and though he has struggled like you have he has left you no excuse for your mistakes?
Praise God that He is perfect! However, if I am a sinner let me talk to another sinner who has been redeemed so I may realize that it is not impossible for me to be redeemed too! Peter, James, John, Matthew, Mark, Luke and Paul and all of the other saints all messed up, just like us. God used them to reach us and teach us about Jesus, who never messed up, and they taught us how this same Jesus, whose love is endless towards us, whose love is perfect towards us, whose love can never be destroyed towards us, came and died to take our place so that we might be forgiven and might be restored to the condition of our original design.
We were made to enjoy life with God, having a relationship with Him, and Christ has come to restore us to that place where we can enjoy all He has made for us once more. When this relationship is restored it gives us the ability to enjoy all He made for us with Him, just as He always intended. He is just like a loving parent who wants to share His Time, His Kingdom, His Treasures with His Children…us! All we have to do is accept Him and His sacrifice for our rebellion. Then we shall have our relationship with Him restored so that He will be our God and we will be His people forever and ever.
His love is displayed to us in His Ministry and in His Passion. Let us go there next in Discussion 2 and take a look. (Don’t worry. We will get to these "discrepancies" soon enough as we study His Ministry and Passion.)
I am writing this to endeavor to clarify the confusion some of you have brought up to me over the letters written by our beloved brothers Matthew, also known as Levi, Mark, also called John, Luke, the beloved doctor who was a close companion of Paul, and John, the one whom the Lord loved. Peace and grace be unto you through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Many of you have wondered as to the "discrepancies" found between these Gospel accounts. You have found several events that you feel are inaccuracies, as if the Gospels of these beloved saints are not in harmony with one another. This is because of the teaching of many that the things that have been written by men could not possibly be accurate, for the common thought is that men are imperfect. Therefore, how could imperfect men write perfectly accurate accounts of anything?
Be careful, my children, not to listen to the philosophies of those who would claim to be wise. Keep in mind that they are all those who Satan has blinded with darkness. They confess to be wise, but they are cloaked in foolishness. They claim to be able to see, but they are blinded by the lies of those things spoken in the past by men who claimed wisdom. Think for yourselves! Can men be perfect? Yes! By all means, a man can be perfect. If man could not ever be perfect then our Lord Jesus would not have been able to come here and be perfect himself and yet still relate to us in our condition. He proved that a man can indeed be perfect. However, we choose to not to be perfect. We choose quite often the things of this world over the things of God. It is not that we can’t be perfect. It is that we desire to do whatsoever we want when we want and where we want.
Think of it in this manner. In Luke’s Gospel account, in the second chapter and verse 22 we read, "When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord", and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: "a pair of doves or two young pigeons."" This is a Law of Moses. Every man should fulfill this law. If man is not able to be perfect, could he fulfill this law? No. If man is not capable of being perfect then he could not even perform this one little task perfectly. However, our Lord’s earthly parents, Mary and Joseph, fulfilled this law perfectly according as they were supposed to, as it was written for them to do in the Law of Moses. They did not make an error. They did it perfectly.
In the same way, which of you is unable to follow a simple instruction perfectly? If I say, "Please go to the market and purchase for me an urn," can you not go to the market and purchase for me an urn? How hard would that be for you to do? Could you not carry out that order perfectly? I did not even tell you which type of urn I am looking for, so it would not even be difficult in that regard. All you would have to do is purchase any urn whatsoever, and you would have succeeded in perfectly doing the task I had set out for you to do.
So the problem with this philosophy that men cannot do something perfectly is foolishness. The true issue is that it is hard for anyone to believe that these men were inspired by the Holy Spirit of God to write perfectly error-free accounts of the events that occurred in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. (This you will find written in your lesson guide in Chapter 1 Lesson 2 under The True Source.) They have a hard time believing that God spoke to these men and dictated to them what they should write through the power of His Holy and Magnificent Spirit. Should we, though, as believers have a hard time believing this truth? Do we not believe that through this same Spirit we have Christ living within us? Are we not the temple of the Spirit? Did not Paul write to the Corinthians in his first letter, in chapter six and verse nineteen, "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?" If this Holy Spirit is within us then why do we doubt that He can and does inspire His people by giving us perfect truth?
Think also of this, dear brothers. Did not Paul also teach that "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness?" Did he not write this to Timotheus, whom he called son, in his second letter in chapter 3 verse 16? If scripture is "God-breathed" is it not also possible that the Gospel writers have written scripture as well which is "God-breathed" and therefore perfect?
Here is another thing to consider. Could it be possible for a perfect God to write imperfect scripture? Do we not believe that Christ is perfect? The accounts say that He is along with all of the letters that write about Him. He was tempted and yet did no sin. Can God make mistakes? Is it logical to even consider? I should hope not. If God is not perfect then He is vulnerable. Only those who can be imperfect are vulnerable to attack. If I was perfect I would not be vulnerable. I would be invincible. Why? A person who can make mistakes will make mistakes. All it takes is another person to wait for that person to make a mistake and then the other person will use that mistake against him. All of the history of mankind shows examples of this over and over again. Even the greatest men have their "Achilles" heels.
Christ proved once and for all that God is perfect. Here was God in the flesh. God had come to earth as it was written of him in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, and also John made mention of this when he said, "The Word became flesh" in the first chapter verse fourteen. He lived a perfectly sinless life which was proven when Jesus went into the desert and was tempted by Satan. (This you will find written in your lesson guide in Chapter 5 Lesson 3 under The Temptation of Christ.) Remember what is written in Matthew’s Gospel chapter four, Mark’s Gospel chapter one and Luke’s Gospel chapter four. All of these attest to the temptation of our Lord and how he defeated even the greatest of temptations without sin. He, who trusted that the Father could "command his angels concerning" Jesus to keep him from striking his "foot against a stone" would not bend a knee to Satan nor cast himself off the temple to prove that He was who He knew He was. He was tempted and he triumphed over even the greatest of temptations.
But even this is not proof enough for some because they did not personally experience Christ’s perfect triumph over sin. So, let us think about perfection in another manner that is logical. In order for something to be eternal it would have to be perfect. Imperfection leads to destruction and end. Perfection leads to eternity. Think of it. If something is perfect it will never end. Why? As I said, if something is perfect it will not have a weakness. A perfect suit of armor has no break, crack or flaw. Nothing could break it or dent it or crack it, if it is perfect. It would endure even time. Only an imperfectly made suit of armor could be broken. Something stronger than it could break it or rust would eventually weaken it and destroy it. Therefore, perfect leads to never-ending. Imperfect leads to ending.
Think of it in another way. Begin counting. Can counting ever end? No. You could end, but counting never could. You could count forever forwards and you could count forever backwards. You could begin at zero and count one, two, three, etc. or count negative one, two, three, etc. endlessly. Why? Because the number line is perfect. It always has an element that is constant and an element that varies. The constant is the pattern zero through nine. It repeats over and over. The variable is adding another number to the constant every time you count zero through nine. However, even the variable is set into an unchanging pattern. This pattern is perfectly unbroken. 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and I add a 1 to the 0 to get 10 and start all over again. When I get to 99 I start all over again with 0 adding another number to get 100.
Notice that the number line always moves forward. It is not just a circle that loops around and around again going nowhere as some are in the habit of thinking about the universe. Oh certainly the numbers zero through nine seem like a loop, but because there is a slight variable the number line is a line and not a circle. You don’t just go from 0 to 9 and then 0 to 9 again. You go 0 to 9 and then 10 through 19 and so on. When you reach 9 you go forward on to 10. You do not just loop back around to the exact same number zero.
And as you can see, this is a perfect example of how something can be eternal. Not only can it be eternal but if you notice it is perfect and flawless. If ever I was able to break the pattern the entire eternal aspect of the number line is broken. For example, 0, 1, 2, 3, 3, 4, 2, 3, 4, 2, 3, 4, 4, 8, 6, 1, 2, 9, 8…etc. In this example, when would I add a 1 to create 10? It is all random and is not perfect. I could not endlessly count this except to endlessly count random numbers as if bouncing around in some chaotic manner. This would be chaos and have no logic or sense.
But our universe clearly has logic and sense. It is clearly made up of patterns and order. Even look at our own bodies. They are symmetrical. As it is written in the letter to the Corinthians in the twelfth chapter verse eighteen through twenty, "But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body." So it makes sense, does it not, that a God of order made a body that is so delicately balanced, each member serving the others in perfect harmony. Does our body seem like it was randomly made like in the number pattern above or does it seem like our body was placed in some order so it would have optimal function?
But some would say, "Our bodies are not designed in the most efficient way possible!" "Why do we not have tails? Aren’t tails beneficial to animals who have them?" "Why do we not have more hair to stay warm in colder climates?" "Why do we not have scales to protect us from harm?"
The answer is simple, my brethren. I do not say this to shame you. I say this to enlighten you. Look around you. Does it not make sense that our bodies were not made for fighting? Does it not make sense that our bodies were not made for cold climates? Does it not make sense that our bodies were not made for the things the bodies of animals were made for? What were our bodies designed to do?
Our bodies were designed for pleasure. We were designed to enjoy this world. We were designed to do whatsoever we want, when we want, where we want. We were designed to live as we wanted to live. We were designed to be our own masters. Our bodies attest to this. That is why our skin is soft. It was designed to be tender so that we could experience pleasure at the slightest touch. Our bodies were not designed with fur to survive in cold, harsh climates because we were designed to enjoy warm, tropical climates. We were not made to work. We were made to relax and have fun.
But as it is told in the scriptures written by Moses, in the book of Genesis, mankind rebelled against God. He made us to be ignorant to His laws and His ways. Therefore, if we were ignorant to His laws and His ways we would not have to live by them. Because of this we could live as we chose to live and do whatever we wanted. We wouldn’t ever have to kill or work or fight or anything, as our bodies attest that we were designed to be.
Adam, however, rebelled, as it is written in chapter three of Genesis. Adam and Even, the first of mankind, wanted to be like God. They wanted to know good and evil. They wanted to know God’s laws. God told them that if they knew his ways they would surely die, for He knew they were not designed for this. They rejected His commands and ate of the fruit which gave them the knowledge of good and evil. The fruit opened their eyes so they would know in their hearts what God thought was right and wrong. From that moment on, mankind could no longer live as they wanted. They could no longer do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted and wherever they wanted. They were subject to God’s laws.
And so, the punishment for sin was brought upon us. Death reigned in our lives. We were created perfect in every way. We were created as a perfectly designed creature who could enjoy ourselves in whatever way we wanted. However, we chose imperfection and thus we threw random numbers into the midst of the perfect number line God had made, if you understand my metaphor.
Did God make a mistake? No. By far He did not. As we established, God cannot err or He would not be eternal. That is like saying you can have a number line that can have a random number pattern thrown into it and it won’t just become a scrambled mess. No, God is perfect. He created us perfect. How is this? We sinned. We committed error and sinned.
The answer is, in order for God to create people like Himself with free will, which is evident in chapter one through three of Genesis, who were not just mindless drones obeying without thought the Creator, God had to give us the ability to choose. He perfectly made us with the ability to choose perfection or imperfection. How could He make a perfect being with free will without giving them a choice as to whether or not to choose to obey Him or not? He could not. He had to give them a choice. All they had to do was obey one little thing. All they had to do was not eat of one type of fruit in all the universe.
But they could not. And neither can we live without choosing sin in our lives. It is not that we cannot be without sin. Often we can choose to reject sin in our lives. However, we choose to not live without sin. We choose almost daily to sin with the words that we flippantly say or the actions we carelessly do.
And yet, even though men can and many times are imperfect, God never makes mistakes. He is perfect. Therefore, doesn’t it make sense that if God is perfect that he can and would use an imperfect man, imperfect sometimes and perfect sometimes, to write a perfect account of His own earthly life? What do you think is more perfect? Is it more perfect for a perfect man to write his own account to imperfect people? Or do you think it is perfect for an imperfect man, who can relate perfectly to imperfect people because he is imperfect, to write a perfect account in his own way of the perfect man? In other words, God used imperfect people to write perfect accounts of His life, death and resurrection so that the imperfect people could relate perfectly to the imperfect people who would read it.
After all, who would you want to listen to more? Would you want to listen to a man who has messed up just as much as you and is trying to tell you how to receive the same forgiveness he has, or would you rather listen to a man who has never messed up, who is, when you put it simply, better than you at everything and though he has struggled like you have he has left you no excuse for your mistakes?
Praise God that He is perfect! However, if I am a sinner let me talk to another sinner who has been redeemed so I may realize that it is not impossible for me to be redeemed too! Peter, James, John, Matthew, Mark, Luke and Paul and all of the other saints all messed up, just like us. God used them to reach us and teach us about Jesus, who never messed up, and they taught us how this same Jesus, whose love is endless towards us, whose love is perfect towards us, whose love can never be destroyed towards us, came and died to take our place so that we might be forgiven and might be restored to the condition of our original design.
We were made to enjoy life with God, having a relationship with Him, and Christ has come to restore us to that place where we can enjoy all He has made for us once more. When this relationship is restored it gives us the ability to enjoy all He made for us with Him, just as He always intended. He is just like a loving parent who wants to share His Time, His Kingdom, His Treasures with His Children…us! All we have to do is accept Him and His sacrifice for our rebellion. Then we shall have our relationship with Him restored so that He will be our God and we will be His people forever and ever.
His love is displayed to us in His Ministry and in His Passion. Let us go there next in Discussion 2 and take a look. (Don’t worry. We will get to these "discrepancies" soon enough as we study His Ministry and Passion.)
Very interesting. Looking forward to the next posting.
ReplyDeleteHe did say in 1 Peter 1:15-16, "but just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: 'Be holy, because I am holy.'" (Lev. 11:44,45;19:2)!!
ReplyDeleteI like the very biblical style of writing. Is that part of the assigment, or you're own creative touch?
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments, everyone.
ReplyDeleteYes, I did kind of intend to write in a biblical style for creative purposes, not because the course called for it. The idea of the blog was to write as if I was a teacher from the early church and yet I am in our current, modern times. The word Catechumen is a title given to early disciples of Christ back in the early church, for anyone who does not know this. When someone accepted Christ during the time when Rome persecuted Christians, they became Catechumen. They would go through a time of training where they would both learn the basics of Christianity as well as to be evaluated to determine if they really had accepted Christ. Since Rome would employ spies to pretend to accept Christ to find early churches, Christians developed the Catechumen system to ensure that individuals were indeed sincere converts as well as to provide them with basic training.
So the blog's intent was to write as if this teacher of Catechumen was discussing with his students of the early church about Gospel discrepancies. The actual class is about the Synoptic Gospels, so I intend to put more into the blog detailing things I've learned from the course. In the meantime, I am adding my own thoughts and concepts I feel God has given me over the years of personal study and such.
I also hope to spark other conversations related to these topics, getting others to add their own thoughts.
So feel free to add your own theories and thoughts. Thanks again.