Building on the Foundation

In previous posts, we examined the various laws regarding cleanliness and uncleanness and concluded that the rituals involving uncleanness no longer apply to us. They deal solely with physical uncleanness,  and since we are a spiritual people, temples of the Holy Spirit, physical uncleanness cannot separate us from God. The sacrificial system pointed to Jesus' sacrifice, and since He died, He is the one sacrifice for all time. The various other rituals were superseded by baptism.  Hebrews 9:9 NKJV - It [was] symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience-- Hebrews 9:10 NKJV - [concerned] only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation. Paul is talking about all the various offerings, the washings, and other sundry things that went along with the sacrifices and the temple system. All of those things pointed ...

What started as an interesting thought project for my own amusement has grown and developed into something quite substantial that I'd like to share with you. For you long-time readers, you may remember an article with a similar title that was posted quite a while ago, but regardless of the similarity in title, they cover two completely different topics.  As followers of God, we refer to our walk with God as, “Christianity” and we say “Christianity” is our “religion;” one of many religions worldwide, and even one of many sects within Christianity. A problem has developed with the idea of religion and even with the idea of Christianity, and they have come to carry the idea and weight that they are a thing that exists alongside our lives. We have our life and then we have our career and our religion, and these two things exist in parallel with our life.  Religion is found in the New Testament, so there is nothing wrong with the word itself, but the idea behind the word, and the c...

  In recent blog posts, we’ve analyzed the mystery of lawlessness mentioned in 2 Thessalonians. The mystery of lawlessness describes human attempts to change or abolish God’s appointed times and laws. It describes a counterfeit gospel — the one preached by mainstream Christianity! As we’ve seen, mainstream Christianity is the spiritual descendant of pagan Israel and Samaria . It pays lip service to God the Father and Jesus Christ, but teaches men to disobey God’s Word. And, as we’ve also seen, it mixes paganism with God’s truth. At the end of this age, the mystery of lawlessness culminates with a man that the apostle Paul described as the “man of sin,” “son of perdition,” and “lawless one” (2 Thes. 2:3, 8). A man “who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God” (2 Thes. 2:4). A man elsewhere called the Beast or the Antichrist. This Antichrist, and the system he represents...