I talked a little bit about theology. There are other important topics that I’d like to write about such as the role of the Holy Spirit and the meaning of the Law. Instead of writing them separately, I’d like to go through a few books of the Bible to explain them. Before I start, I’d like to mention briefly about Christianity and the gospel.

Gospel is not about going to heaven after death. Death and the afterlife have been the interest of many. People go to a church thinking they will go to heaven if they die as a Christian.

Gospel is about being a part of the Kingdom, God’s eternal dwelling. It is about being one with God. It is about knowing God, understanding God, and loving God. It is God who does everything to build His Kingdom. Men can do nothing as we see in the case of Adam and Eve.

But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people. No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more. (Jeremiah 31:33-34)

Christianity has gone very strange, and I see many people call themselves Christians and yet, have no understanding of Christ. If you visit any church, you are likely to see people saying “Christ is my only king and savior. I love him!” but they have no interest in reading the Bible. They say, “I am not interested in theology stuffs.” Theology is about the knowledge of God. There is no true faith without knowing God. Even in the Reformed the knowledge got crooked. There are ministers saying Christ is the Creator. Although the Triune God created all things, it brings confusion when one says Christ is the Creator. We do not say Christ is the Creator, but the world was made by the Father through His Son.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind. (John1:1-4)

The Father was pleased to manifest Himself through His Son and gave all authorities to the Son. The Father was pleased to manifest Himself through His words and they speak about His Son. All His words are summed up in the Word. The knowledge is so deep, and I can never say I know it all. Only I can see the glimpse of the mystery when I read the Bible again and again. The reason I emphasize on the Trinity doctrine is that it holds the essential knowledge of God. When one understands the mystery, the two natures of Christ can be understood. The ecumenical Creeds are useful in teaching people about Trinity and the two natures of Christ as I mentioned before.

This is what I have learnt so far.

God created the world for a specific purpose and that is His eternal dwelling. The dwelling is not a place but people. He could have made them like angels, but He chose not to because they had to be trained through sufferings so that they could be refined. They go through the preservation process by salt. God knows the benefit of sufferings. The devil was made as a necessary tool. The devil hates God, His plans, and most of all, His elect people. The devil disguises as a friend and an ally but he wants God’s elect to fail. God sometimes let His people to fall into temptations when they need to be disciplined. As in the case of King David, falling into a temptation brings disastrous events. Yet, God forgives His people. The world was made as the training place for His elect people. Once the elect people are fully trained, there is no need for the former worlds to exist. God will destroy all things and make everything new. Heaven and earth will pass away.  And new heaven and new earth will come. The gospel is therefore only for the elect people. For others it is the death sentence. They consider God unfair and cruel. They want a different king and serve the beast. God sees them as His enemies. God’s people are hated by His enemies because of God.

Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the commanders, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and free man hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. And they said to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. (Revelation 6:15-16)

Lastly, I heard that the Reformed theologians bring up Thomas Aquinas a lot in their discussions. Some boast that they read Summa Theologica in Latin. I think it is a waste of time. This trend is not surprising because John Owen was influenced by Thomism. He was called “Reformed Catholic”. And we can easily see where his heart was in terms of theology. Both Owen and Aquinas developed theology for the mass public. Owen combined TULIP and the ideas of Aquinas. For the sake of external piety and social/political stability, he weakened Sola Gratia by adopting Thomist ideas so that all people can be ruled under the new Protestant church. Because of his efforts, the Protestant church is no different from the Roman Catholic. I came across a man confessing that he is now a Muslim after going to a Protestant church and reading many theology books. He said he was a reborn Christian. And there are a lot to talk about how the Protestant churches define “Reborn”. But I will do it some other time.

The Roman Catholic church upholds the teachings of Aquinas. The reason the Roman Catholic church became corrupt is not because they were generous towards immoralities. They abandoned the grace-only doctrine, which Augustine had taught, to bring many people into their church. They promoted a men-made idol, and it led to other corruptions. Aquinas learnt theology based on human philosophies. He was greatly influenced by Islam because of the Crusades. And Islam is believed to be influenced by Aristotle and Arianism. Aquinas’ theology can never explain Trinity right. And his understanding of Christ is therefore crooked. Then people would say I should read this and that to know his theology. There is no need because Aquinas himself stopped writing at the end saying all his writings were like straws. The only thing we can learn from Aquinas is that his writings are rubbish. He himself denied at the end he knew anything about God. What is the point of studying his writings?

Why do people seek after pagan gods made by pagan philosophers when there is God who manifests Himself through the Bible? The answer is because they have not received the Holy Spirit. Yet or never.

Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? (2 King 1:3)

Saints receive the seal of God because they mourn over the abominations happening in churches. Sealing of the saints comes first and then the rest receive the mark of the beast.