@Unitarians

 @Unitarians, to those Unitarians who doubt the preexistence of the Spirit of Christ: 

“Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself.” So it says in Hebrews 3:3. The writer is identifying Jesus clearly as builder and Moses as part of the house Jesus built. How could the Spirit of Christ build that house, including Moses in that building, if He did not exist in Moses’ time and exist even before the original stone of that house, Abraham, too?

Verifiable Evidence?

 What if there were verifiable evidence of the existence of God? I suppose it would be about more than mere verifiable evidence. Multiple agreeing witness statements are verification of evidence. What it needs is evidence of a miraculous kind that God doesn’t only exist but is good enough to know who believes and who doesn’t. Evidence of a miraculous kind that God is loving enough to hear the prayer of such a believer and to reach out with an answer. Evidence of a miraculous kind of the power of God over the fabric of space-time, able to control the outcome of random events of all kinds. Evidence of God being top God, not subject to the control of any other being which might be evil and override God. Evidence that Jesus is the Son of this God and is Lord and is like this God in kindness and power and wisdom yet human enough to be a mediator of this God mediating between God and us. Evidence of the veracity of the testimonies given by apostles and prophets about this God and this Son and the reliability of God’s promises and Jesus’ promises. Evidence of the Holy Spirit having been given to believers even today. All this. Please. Existence is tip of the iceberg. But God gives it all.

This life?

Does God tell us about this life? Sure, but the interventions of God in this life are understood in terms of what happens in the next. God is judge right at the top of the totality of justice. Should God let wrongdoing be allowed to happen? God could intervene. He does so proportionately. That can mean wrongdoing continues for a time. You still have to understand this, if seeing it God’s way, in light of what happens after death. See Jesus’ testimony and the Book of Enoch for reference. The Book of Enoch tells how God lets evil happen in many circumstances, but in His sovereign will may intervene if a limit of tolerability is reached and prayers of anguish reach God’s throne. Those suffering can be compensated in the appropriate place for it after death. There is of course an implicit requirement that the victims do not themselves become the wrongdoers, otherwise they would have the same end as those who did wrong to them. Jesus has in more recent history confirmed this teaching of Enoch by first the testimonies given by Jesus about the importance of knowing Enoch’s teachings regarding angels, adding more clarity about the resurrection making humans like angels, but also Jesus spoke a similar teaching in the story of ‘the rich man and Lazarus’. The poor beggar Lazarus suffered neglect and indifference from a rich neighbour but after both died, Lazarus went to a place for comfort of his soul after death, while the rich man was tormented after death. Lazarus had suffered long in poverty and pain but had not himself become a doer of wrong like the selfish, neglectful rich man. So Jesus confirmed Enoch’s teachings we find in the Book of Enoch.

Should God intervene?

 The Book of Enoch answers an important question: Should we expect God to stop wrongs being done to the innocent? We might think God should always intervene when wrongdoing is about to happen. Or would that be oppressive? You might be kept in chains from birth. So might I. We could be prevented from doing wrong which in our cases could mean being pretty much prevented from doing anything. In extremes the Book of Enoch tells us that God does do that, such as with Azazel and other fallen angels, kept bound in chains for thousands of years because they had a record of abusing their powers as angels back around 3500 BC. God uses proportionate measures in dealing with things. This intervention involved sending angels to capture the angels who were abusing the trust they were given. An angel had led others into taking human girls as wives, against God’s purposes for angels. The fallen Azazel, the leader of the fall of angels, was bound under rocks. An immortal was buried alive, it seems, and has been kept like that for thousands of years. Should God resort to this all the time? With humans it would be different. Humans die. Wait a few decades and a human serious offender will be gone from the land of the living. Then they are kept in one of four different places depending how they lived and whether they already received justice. Heaven has only to wait. Yet the innocent suffer. So God lets things happen in some circumstances, but in His sovereign will may intervene if a limit of tolerability is reached and prayers of anguish reach God’s throne. Those suffering can be compensated in the appropriate place for it after death. There is of course an implicit requirement that the victims do not themselves become the wrongdoers, otherwise they would have the same end as those who did wrong to them. 

Jesus has in more recent history confirmed this teaching of Enoch by first the testimonies given by Jesus about the importance of knowing Enoch’s teachings regarding angels, adding more clarity about the resurrection making humans like angels, but also Jesus spoke a similar teaching in the story of ‘the rich man and Lazarus’. The poor beggar Lazarus suffered neglect and indifference from a rich neighbour but after both died, Lazarus went to a place for comfort of his soul after death, while the rich man was tormented after death. Lazarus had suffered long in poverty and pain but had not himself become a doer of wrong like the selfish, neglectful rich man. So Jesus confirmed Enoch’s teachings we find in the Book of Enoch.

Science and religion

 Scientists have a purpose of trying to pick out what can be known and understood without any knowledge of anything supernatural. Priests and prophets have a purpose of trying to discern what the supernatural God wants known without resorting to shamanism. 

Scary

 God, the wisest, most powerful judge is scary, even though also very loving. He has therefore provided mankind with the ideal,  human mediator, Jesus.

Fear God

God is called the terror of Isaac. Also called “Hide yourself!”. Also a consuming fire. The real God is more frightening than any mafia godfather. Even though God is good, don’t make the mistake of thinking He isn’t all those other things too. Someone who can keep punishing even long after the body is killed by His punishments. God is love. Love casts out fear. Yet God’s love is not to be taken for granted or despised as if it were weakness. Exhausting His patience is difficult but possible. Think of the most powerful emperor monarch then take it up several notches. Yet fear God and preserve that proper respect and you will have His angelic protection. That is why God has provided a mediator. The man, Jesus, the Christ. Crucified, resurrected, now alive forever.

Denial as a coping mechanism?

Denial as a coping mechanism has some harmful side effects. Try saying “Gravity does not exist” over and over until you believe it and it will have harmful side effects. 

Many scientists and philosophers have offered differing theories about gravity. Some say it is a force. Others that it is curvature of space-time. Has any theory been proved? Any more so than theories of theology? 

This lack of agreement on what gravity actually is, could lead to confusion, tension and uncertainty as to its existence. One way to cope with this would be to try denying its existence. Form a kind of Atheist Republic to find solace in others denying it too. A bit like a Flat Earth Society. But then do you risk believing your denial and suffering harm that might result when you walk towards a cliff edge?

Like Jesus

 If you can be like Jesus then you can be dead and then alive forever. But He holds the keys.

Flesh Having the Spirit of Christ

Having the Spirit of Christ. That comes by being born again, finding hope in Christ’s resurrection, in Christ being alive forever, alive from the dead, having paid for sins. Having the Spirit of Christ. Jesus truly came in flesh like our flesh so we can be like Him but He is what He is by spirit so we must be too. Having the Spirit of Christ. 

Peace

 I am asked whether we should strive for a humanitarian kind of discipline and decency, rather than the gospel of Christ. Humanitarian discipline and learning does not get anyone pardoned. If we were perfect maybe it would be all we need for a decent life. But over time we blow it. Drugs. Sex perversion. Even illness can make us go off the rails. Discipline on its own does not put things right when it all goes wrong. Military life is one traditional way young people try to get back on the rails and get good discipline. But it is not a road to peace. The road to peace involves redemption. Why should we have a peaceful life if we did terrible things and caused misery to others. All kinds of things we do are the undoing of others. Even our wealth cannot be separated from the slave trade that bought it. Someone had to pay. If that someone was forced to pay, we deserve no peace. We need peace in which to learn to do right but we deserve no peace. But Someone, Christ, paid willingly by crucifixion to buy our peace, paying off the reproach of our peace. Trusting in that is the path to peace. Trusting and obeying His teachings and relying on His crucifixion to pay our debt to God and His resurrection to give us hope that Christ can keep our way ahead blessed by God as eternal life. Having His teachings within and the actions of His Spirit to help us and discipline us.

Spirituality in Christ

 The Spirit of Christ existed, exists, will exist. Having the Spirit of Christ working within means having the Son and having life.

“And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.” “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you--unless, of course, you fail the test?” 

Salt and light

 True church participation is modelled on Solomon who was tasked with building the Temple for God precisely because he was not a violent king. God gave Solomon wisdom and protection with anointing of Holy Spirit so Solomon ruled peacefully and therefore was accepted not only as a son of God but as a builder of the Temple for God’s name. This is how it works with the true church too. It requires there to be peace in its building - in the tasks God gives which build up the lives and spiritual growth of the members. The Body of Christ. As such it influences the world around it towards less violence and more peaceful goals such as trade and justice for the poor provided by economic growth. Salt and light.

Incorruptible Spirit

I was asked: Was the Spirit of Christ (1 Peter 1:11) before incarnation corruptible? If you read the Book of Enoch and the Book of Daniel and 2 Esdras you find the Son of Man spirit is recognisable as like a man. Incidentally the description of Him after His resurrection and ascension in Revelation is intentionally similar to that in Daniel. This implies He was similar in sprit before incarnation to how He is now after incarnation and resurrection. So I would say He is incorruptible both before incarnation and after incarnation and resurrection. He became flesh and at that time was mortal and died and rose again. Jesus Christ. But isn’t there a sense in which spirit is always incorruptible? The Spirit of Christ being given a body by the Holy Spirit to be born of the virgin Mary meant the body itself can face temptation, suffer and die. Yet the spirit persists, and in the case of Christ preexists too such that Christ could proclaim, “Before Abraham was born, I am”

The Spirit of Christ

 The kind of spirit to which Peter referred in 1 Peter 1:11 is like the Holy Spirit referred to in other scriptures. This kind of spirit can manifest itself. In the case of the Spirit of Christ, one manifestation was the manifestation of becoming flesh. Previous manifestations had been by exerting influence in ancient times over prophets to lead them towards truth regarding this Christ. Also visions (example Isaiah 6) and other manifestations which were akin to something even more physical in the here and now (examples Daniel and Enoch).

What Jesus meant by “I am”

Compare what the apostles such as John and Peter believed about John the Baptist with what they believed about themselves and what they believed about Jesus Christ. John the Baptist was foreknown and foretold by prophets. Yet he did not say of himself “I am” nor did he imply he had existence before conception. The prophetic foretelling of his coming did not constitute preexistence of John the Baptist. Peter wrote of foreknowledge about believers in 1 Peter 1:2 yet it is not written that this foreknowledge had any behaviour or took action. Then look at how John the Baptist and the apostles spoke about and wrote about Jesus Christ. They do attribute much more than just foreknowledge to this Spirit of Christ of which Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1:10-11. John reports how Jesus said “I am” in referring to His existence in ancient times and also into the eternal future. John the Baptist said that Jesus has surpassed him because Jesus was (existed) before him. Peter wrote of the Spirit of Christ existing in ancient times, inspiring the prophets. The apostles clearly believed in Jesus’ existence since very ancient times as a spirit and His ongoing existence forever as resurrected human but immortal spirit. So for them it is clear what Jesus meant by “I am”. And they firmly believed it. Jesus said if we don’t believe it, we will die in our sins (John 8 ). Christ Jesus’ spirit is aeons old and will exist forever. That is the “I am” truth about Him.

Spirit of Christ - preexistence

That the Son of Man seen by the prophet Enoch and taught about extensively in the Book of Enoch is truly the Spirit of Christ long before Christ became flesh is demonstrated by this statement by the Apostle Peter in his first epistle. 1 Peter 1:10-11 “Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, searching what time or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did point unto, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that should follow them.” 

Holy Spirit

 How many of us believe in Jesus but haven’t ever become aware of receiving the Holy Spirt? Maybe thinking such awareness is impossible? Ask that you may receive. “Give us this day our daily bread.” Jesus went on to say “Which of you if your children are asking you for bread, would give the child a stone? How much more will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.” But be sure you have a faith God the Father puts within you as Father of that faith: Persuasion which is faith which comes by God’s word persuading you and God’s power convincing you.

Is ‘living in sin’ a sin?

 Is ‘living in sin’ a sin? Is marriage the only way to have a sexual relationship? Depends on your social circles. I got excluded from a great church because of ‘living in sin’ (plus divorce was another factor), but love won the day. Marriage is a social circle phenomenon. Left to your private decision for you and your partner or potential partner you might simply make a private commitment as my partner and I did. Later I bowed to social pressure and got married formally when my partner accepted. But only after I lived together ‘in sin’ for years. Personally I don’t believe it was sin. Singleness with living in lustfulness is a sin though. The church did not chuck me out for that. So sin is a factor but not the only factor. Social acceptability is a factor too.

To quit lying

 If we are united in Christ we are part of the same body of Christ and it is utterly inappropriate to lie to each other. Putting off lying both in word and thought is a first step in obedience to Christ Jesus. Lies are of the devil. So to start to obey Christ means to quit lying. 

Lockdown churches

Too many online church services are merely begging opportunities for full-time church workers who have no other trade with which to support themselves.

The Word became flesh

 The truth and spirit of Jesus’ teachings were there with the Father before, long before, Jesus came in flesh and blood. The Holy Spirit points to the veracity of the Book of Enoch scriptures saying that this truth and spirit took form before being flesh and blood. Even in Enoch’s time millennia before the coming of Christ in flesh this form existed, the Book of Enoch strongly suggests. This explains the Book of Daniel and Book of Revelation together implying Jesus was taken into the presence of the Father, Ancient of Days, even in Daniel’s time, manifest in the form of one like a man, like a son of man. This Son of Man taught of by the Book of Enoch and with whom Jesus identified Himself. That existence of spirit and truth had humanlike form. Logically it leads to the deduction that as soon as the first cell of Jesus existed the existence moved to it from what existed before. The manifestation took human flesh. 

Dear Unitarian

 Dear unitarian. Isn’t the knowledge that Almighty God the Father before creation had of Jesus something that existed? Did that knowledge merely reside in the mind of the Father or did it form a school of knowledge among the angels? After the creation of all Creation what form did that knowledge take? How else was it manifested besides in the prophecies and hopes of prophets and followers of God? In their prophecies and hopes did it start to take shape? Did it even before Abraham’s time start to take form? Human form. Did Abraham realise it would eventually take human physical form? It surely had a very real, though hidden existence. Abraham rejoiced in the day of its human physical flesh manifestation. Did that faith in an invisible entity become within Abraham and others a manifestation of the image of the Father? Something or someone they could all look up to and follow and hang upon in their hopes? Goings forth that were of old of times of Abraham and before. A lamb slain even then.

Prophecy Today

 If I was given the privilege by God of rebooting true religion, how would I do it? I would preach. I would preach that a cross is only known so widely as a religious symbol today because a single special sacrifice was made. The cross as a medical or shamanistic symbol is long known irrespective of the religious cross. Yet both have common roots. A sacrifice making way for an oracle. A religious cross tells of the one sacrifice of the Son of Man, the Christ, making way for the oracles going globally widespread of true prophecy by the Holy Spirit so there can be true prophets lighting up the world. So we should live by this light and be saved.