TTSR Geography Versus Equality

There is so much talk of equality as it relates to countries or there people when, back before there were vehicles, telephones, or electricity, and cultural groups stayed tightly together, there was no doubt that civilizations were aware of the their inequality based on the differing geographical locations.

The Native Americans were almost surrounded by the ocean and isolated by limited means of travel from the few nations that lived in the Western hemisphere while Europe had the ideal Geographical points such as trade routes ranging from Africa to China, metal deposits, and a warm climate, all the thing needed to develop a thriving society.

There are still countries with natural disadvantages that limit resources and accessibility, this we cannot change, even with all the pity parties whose discriminating laws are eclipsed by the natural lay of the land.  

Genesis 11:8  “So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth…”

75 Bible Questions – 47 & 48

*Note* Written from a Grace Church perspective that I no longer believe in.  Please read the 75 Bible Questions 49-50 posts for accurate beliefs on the topic of Biblical laws.

What standard are we under?

Romans 8:13-14  “For if you live after the flesh, your shall die: but if you through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live.  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”

There are two different standards Christians believe to be under, one of Old Testament laws that dictate what is sin and one of being led by the Spirit into righteousness.

Anything in between that attempts to blend the two disregards some part of the law because there is no way I have thought or read of that can make Jesus’ two commands of Love partnered with the Holy Spirit function with the specific laws of the Old Covenant that teach even on the particulars of muzzling oxen at work [Deuteronomy 25:4].

Paul brings this matter up in 1 Timothy 5:18 but not to teach Timothy or the church about the treatment of oxen, but as an example of rewarding those for their work; So is the law still meant to determine how we live our lives or are we to walk by faith in the Holy Spirit using the law to learn from?

1 Timothy 5:18 “For the scripture says, you shall not muzzle the ox that treads out the corn.  And, the laborer is worthy of his reward.”

For further study: Mark 10:3-7, Acts 23:1-5, 1Corinthians 9:9-10, 14:34,  2 Corinthians 6:16-18, 13:1,  Galatians 5:14, Ephesians 6:1-3, James 2:9-11.

TTSR Recycled “Racism”

TTSR  Recycled “Racism”

For younger generation, hearing about racism between whites and blacks over mortgagees in the September 14^th, 2005 issue of the New York Times would appear as ‘news’ when in reality, it is a recycled story from thirteen years prior that makes a big deal out of nothing because it is actually not racist.

The original story was published in the Wall Street Journal that claimed blacks were being denied mortgages while whites were receiving them, a touching piece to be sure that mentioned nothing about incomes, credit ratings, or any of the prerequisites to receiving a mortgage.

Under all the hype, many blacks had poorer credit ratings than what was needed, so the statistics of the original story in 1992 were 72% of blacks and 89% of whites receiving mortgage loans, not quite the extreme ‘racism’ we were led to believe but what can you expect when the general populace is willing to believe almost anything at face value. 

75 Bible Questions – 46

Romans 8:6-8 “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.  For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot.  Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

The worldly man lives according to the flesh, which is controlled by the desires and lusts of this world, while the redeemed man is to crucify his flesh*, bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ**.

Those who are of the world refuse to acknowledge God’s law so they will not be under it but what they think or say will not change what is, neither will it change the weight of sin they feel in their hearts.

As Christians we have been forgiven of our sins and should no longer feel the weight of death “for the law of the Spirit of life has set” us “free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death [Romans 8:2].”

* Galatians 5:24  “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

**2 Corinthians 10:5  “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,”

75 Bible Question – 44

Romans 7:14  “We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.”

As I have discussed in previous posts, the law exposes sin, where as without it, Paul writes that he “would not have known what sin was… For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “Do not covet.””

So then, if Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ found the law useful in exposing a sin he was committing, it is defiantly of valid importance to us who share the same spirit, but did not experience Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection first hand. 

The law is meant to expose sin as it did in the Old Testament for we are “No longer under the law of sin and death."

Romans 7:7  “What shall we say then?  Is the law sin? Certainly not!  Indeed I would not have known what sin was accept though he law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “Do not covet.’”

75 Bible Questions – 43

Is a Christians “New Spirit” Opposed to God’s Law?

Romans 7:5-6 “For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the spirit, and not in the new way of the written code.”

God’s word does not contradict itself and neither does His Holy spirit, which means that the spirit of God in us is perfectly in sync with the Bible even though we may not be.

So, although we are not bound by the law anymore, we still follow it because we are led by the spirit which leads us into all truth* and convicts us of all wrong doings.

To say that the Ten Commandments are irrelevant under the New Covenant misses the whole point of being led by the spirit because sin has not changed since the Old Testament; there were prostitutes, homosexuals, rapists, murderers, and all manner of abhorrent deeds committed back then which were sins and still are today.

75 Bible Questions – 42

Are We Free to Ignore God’s Law if We Are “Under Grace”?

Romans 8:2 "For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death."

The laws and commandments in the Bible could be compared to the building of a house: The foundation of concrete and the structure of wood come first, making the whole house stronger when natural forces come against it, then comes the flooring, walls, ceiling, roofing, and finishing touches that cover up the base, making it a house.

The old Covenant is the foundation that reveals sin but does not offer salvation and is an unfinished work while the New Covenant does offer redemption and a personal relationship with the Lord.

Can we say our faith is complete without a base to be built on or structures to hold it up as many Christians do when they forsake the Old Testament, focusing solely on grace, love, and forgiveness?

TTSR Stereotypes Verses The Market

As much as the media and the intelligentsia preach about judging people as individuals rather than the knowledge of similar or similar looking people, it is not practical or even safe to do so, especially when the ‘enlightened’ do not practice what they preach.

If someone is out alone at night and notices that a dark figure has been following him for several blocks, he will not judge the stranger as an individual but as a possible threat based on previous knowledge about crime even though it could simply be a coincidence that the two people have the same route, a smart person will not take a chance for the sake of judging individually.

In the same way, the free market does not view people individually even though the results are generally considered ‘Racist’ when they are the honest decisions of businessmen basing their knowledge of different types of people as it applies to theft, gangs and violence; for instance, a restaurant in a black community known to have customers that would rather walk out than pay for their food would be wise to have suspected customers pre-pay rather than take a risk on individuality.

75 Bible Questions – 41 What does “under grace, not law” mean?

All who are trying to gain salvation by their good works consider themselves under the law, which is not why Jesus “being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:8)

We are under grace because that is the New Covenant that Jesus paid for with his precious blood when he bore the sins of the world and conquered the grave.

Sin was manifested through the law so that Isreal might recognize it immediately but the law did now redeem them, nor did their actions because all had sinned (Romans 3:23) so God sent His son that we might be free from sin and abide in His grace.

Romans 6:14  For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Romans 6:15  What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!

Galatians 5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Galatians 3:10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”

Acts 13:39  And by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

Romans 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

1 Corinthians 15:56  The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

TTSR Dog-In-The-Manger Politics

 The dog-in-the-manger policies are policies meant to prevent people from benefiting from that which government officials and the anointed* are not able to, for instance: When Romania acquired new territories during World War 1, they gained German and Hungarian universities with it and their immediate intentions were to make the student body completely Romanian.

This caused Hungarian students to leave the new Romanian country for Hungarian universities, but the government strictly forbid this, closing them off from a higher education while about three quarters of Romanians were illiterate.

Romania is certainly not the only one to make political decisions based on personal desires that tear down a good thing for a one-sided okay thing as the Chinese did in their affirmative action policies or as liberals do with taxes.

TTSR “Friends” Of Blacks

Just as welfare was started by those with good intentions, so have many ‘friends’ of blacks done things that disastrously mistreated the black people they attempted to help, as is the case in Universities that allow people to graduate with less than satisfactory grades because they are black, which in some way is supposed to mean something and mean nothing at the same time.

Dr Patrick Chavis is the perfect example of black centered good-intention-fails as he experienced when he was passed through medical school because of minority preferences, returned to the ghettos to practice, held in honor for his success, and two weeks later had his license suspended after a patient died under questionable circumstances.

Chavis’s license was later revoked for his lack of ability to execute some of the simplest medical procedures, as he might have been able to do if the system had not granted him a masters without mastery because he was black, but the tragic part is a person had to die before this matter was brought to light and even then, Affirmative Action* waved it off as a freak incident; this is not helping blacks in any way shape or form unless unaccountability and false accreditation is desirable.

* Affirmative Action: an action or policy favoring those who tend to suffer from discrimination, esp. in relation to employment or education; positive discrimination.

TTSR Race, Romance, and Reality

During the 1960s, there were a series of riots that forever changed the ghettos because none of the romanticist rioters bothered to consider why they were destroying and looting stores or where they would take their business afterwards.

I doubt any of them knew that as a result, there would be less stores and higher prices managed by disagreeable people, driving customers from the ghettos to higher end neighborhoods to do their shopping.

Before all the rioting, stores could not afford these new business attitudes because there was so much competition and they would not have had to if the romanticism that glorified rebellion had not turned communities against themselves.

75 Bible Questions – 39

We have been freed from the curse of sin through Jesus, and are now part of the beautiful body of Christ but that does not mean we will never have troubles, because we most certainly will having stepped across the line from darkness into light, taking the side against the devil.

So then, when tests or trials arise, how are we to recognize them as such and not as punishments or warnings?

Firstly, we should pray and inquire of the Lord, secondly, we should listen to the Holly Spirit for guidance, thirdly, we should examine our role in the situation to see if what we are doing is pleasing to God and change if we are doing otherwise.

2 Corinthians 13:5  “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”

Psalm 11:5  “The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.”

James 1:2  “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,”

Ephesians 6:18  “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,”

Romans 14:6  “The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.”

75 Bible Questions - 38

The law is by no means irrelevant under the New Covenant for although we are under grace the law and the Old Testament customs have much we can learn from.

There are important teachings for topics that are not covered in the New Testament such as animal sexuality and many topics only lightly covered in the New such as murder, the drinking of blood, and idolatry.

The Old Testament is the earliest recorded history in the world and it can actually be put into a timeline going all the way from creation to 450 BC, making the Bible the only accurate history of creation not just for Christians but also for many historians.  

TTSR “Minorities”

There is so much hype in politics and the media about racial equality that it would lead us to believe that what the government is doing is not biased towards any ethnic groups but when they put in Minority laws that ‘help’ certain groups get jobs where their employers don’t have to worry about paying their salary because the government will or students that can get into institutes for higher learning without having high test scores, I think there is some bias.

The interesting thing is, actual minority groups such as Jews are not counted as a minority because they have too many achievements, thus, the minority laws are not meant to support actual minorities but those we should feel sorry for.

At Harvard, the test scores of Asian Americans and whites were virtually the same but only the higher scoring Asian Americans were accepted while the average scoring whites were accepted, which leads me to believe that the minority laws are just a cover up for those who wish to boost the ethnic groups they like or are a part of.

75 Bible Questions - 37

Romans 8:2  “For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”

Now that we as Christians are dead to sin (for further understanding on "dead to sin," read previous posts), we are no longer under the Old Covenant laws because we are under God's grace, for sin was manifested through the law.

Many will argue this and say that without the law there is no knowledge of right or wrong or of a higher standard Christians should have in life but I say that the opposite is true, that under grace we are filled with the Holly Spirit that guides into all truth.

James 4:17 “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”

We will never blatantly sin without knowing it, we might deceive ourselves into thinking we are not sinning but inside the Spirit has warned us and we do know, no matter how 'small' the sin may be.

Romans 6:6-11  “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.  For one who has died has been set free from sin.  Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.  We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.  For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.  So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

Romans 5:13  “For sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.”

Romans 8:3  “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,”

Romans 7:8  “But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead.”

1 Corinthians 15:56  “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.”

John 16:13  “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”

75 Question 35 & 36 Are we dead to sin by works?

To be dead to sin means that we are no longer under the penalty of sin because we have accepted Jesus into our hearts and are a new creation, free from the bonds of sin (2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come”). 

Under the Old Covenant, sin rained through Adam even with the law, no amount of works could redeem a man from sin but through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, we have access to His unbound grace in our lives, thus leaving no room for sin unless we submit to it again.

Galatians 5:1 “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”

Satan wants us to believe his lies and submit to the yoke of slavery (sin) because he has no power over us when we have surrendered our lives to Jesus; when Christ rose from the grave, the power of death was broken and the sin that rained through Adam was forgiven.

1 Corinthians 15:22  “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.”

Romans 6:11 ”So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

Romans 8:2 “For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”

Colossians 2:6  “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,”

1 Peter 3:18  “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,”

Ephesians 2:5  “Even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—“

1 Corinthians 15:56 “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.”

1 Corinthians 13:10 “But when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.”

Colossians 2:20-23 “If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch”  (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings?  These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.” 

TTSR The Slavery Card

Many are of the opinion that the slavery card is the ultimate guilt inducer for white Westerners when it is only that if you believe it, for in reality, slavery was not just practiced in America and blacks were not the only people enslaved there.

For thousands of years, there have been slaves in Europe, Asia, and Africa not just blacks or people of a different race, but people of the same ethnic group enslaving each other.

Alas, it seems the media and the white guilt binders are determined not to know their history otherwise they would learn that the West was the first place slavery was abolished.

75 Question 34 How can we identify Christians if we ignore God’s law?

We cannot test Christians to separate the true believers from the false believers as we are instructed to do in 1 John 4:1 without understanding the difference between the two and what we are to look for.

1 John 4:2-3  “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.”

Aside from confessing that Jesus Christ is lord we should observe the actions of Christians to see if they are following God’s laws and by this I do not mean judge them, rather, observe whether their conduct is God fearing and loving towards their neighbors.

As was discussed in Question 33, Christians are to love their neighbor as themselves, as this is the second greatest commandment, the first being “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all you soul, with all you mind, and with all your strength;” if a self professed Christian does not live this then how can he be part of God’s adopted family?

1 John 4:1 “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

1 John 4:5-6  “They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them.  We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”

Mark 12:30  ”And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’”