Can a person know God by human reasoning? Absolutely not. Even though the truth is right there in front of a person, he/she cannot understand the mysteries of God unless the Holy Spirit comes and gives understanding. One may be able to mimic what other Christians say but his/her own words eventually reveal what is in his/her mind. At present, churches around the world are engulfed by people who claim to know God and yet have no understanding. This is exactly what the prophets in the OT said against the Israelites. Our knowledge of God may be imperfect, but we share the same knowledge in the fundamental doctrines such as the Trinity and TULIP. I believe the Protestant church succeeded the Apostolic church and got separated from the Roman Catholic church in the 16^th century. But she has become adulterous as her sister. They are exactly the same. They share the same thing – theology based on human philosophy. In the center, there are Anselm of Canterbury and Thomas Aquinas.

Theologians and ministers love human philosophy because it can persuade many people. They love people because of money and fame. I do not ask for money from others. That is what I asked God in 2017. Money distorts truth. For many years, theology was for the educated people. It is true that Paul was an educated man compared to the disciples of Christ. However, Paul considered his former life as dung.

Earlier, I mentioned that the Book of the Revelation is the key to understand Genesis. Likewise, the NT is the key to understand the OT. When one reads the Bible, he/she often starts with Genesis. I remember that I got stuck at the Book of Leviticus or Numbers and stopped reading the Bible in my youth. When I read the law, I got dismayed because there were so many things that I needed to remember. Now I understand why God gave the Israelites the law. And Torah does no longer stop me from reading the Bible.

The limitation of the Reformation is that the Reformed theologians considered the new covenant as the extension of the old covenant. From the beginning, there was no such thing as righteousness that comes from the law or works. It is true that God promised righteousness upon perfect keeping of the law.

And it will be righteousness for us if we are careful to follow all this commandment before the LORD our God, just as He commanded us. (Deuteronomy 6:25)

If the new covenant is the extension of the old covenant, God would not have called it “new”.

“Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. “For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD: “I will put My law within them and write it on their heart; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their wrongdoing, and their sin I will no longer remember.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

The old covenant tied to the law existed for us to realize that we cannot do anything right beginning from Adam. The Covenant Theology and the Active Obedience of Christ focus on the law as the only way to righteousness. Therefore, the theories see Christ as a mere substitute to Adam who could not keep God’s command during the probation period. Considering the probation period, God never talked about it. It is a men-made fantasy. Adam never had a chance to become the head of the church. According to these theories, Christ had to keep the law perfectly for our righteousness. I believe that these theories cannot explain why Christ is from eternity.

There are many theories concerning when the Gospel of John was written. It is believed that it was written later than the other three Gospel books (Matthew, Mark, and Luke). I believe that there were many issues within churches because people understood Christ as they liked. The situations they were in were not much different from the challenges that we face.

John teaches us that the NT is the key to understand the OT, not the other way around. Without knowing Christ, one cannot understand the OT. What we now call “The Reformed theology” tells us that God wanted us to keep the law, but we could not, and therefore, sent the Son. Because we cannot keep the law perfectly, we gain righteousness by faith in Christ who kept the law for us. This is a wrong understanding of righteousness. Righteousness tied to the law disappears when one sins. Such righteousness is not true righteousness. Besides, this theory cannot explain why Christ is from eternity. And if our relationship with God is based on the law, we are not the children of God. The new covenant promises our rebirth from above. And this has always been God’s ultimate will – the kingdom of love. Our obedience does not come because there is the law. It is from our love for God and His people. This love was shown by Christ, our head. Christ, from eternity just as the Father, loves and understands Him. We become like Christ.