The Covenant Theology focuses on the covenants that appear in the Bible. It uses the covenants to explain the redemptive history. But the Covenant theologians’ understandings of God’s covenants are crooked because of their view of Adam.

There are two types of covenants that God makes with people in the Bible. One is conditional and the other is unconditional which is summarized in Galatians 4:21-31. Conditional covenants are merely given to teach saints that there is no such thing as “if” in God’s dictionary. There is no such thing as “If I keep God’s commands, I will live.” Whenever God puts a condition to a covenant with people, they failed. The first examples were Adam and Eve. Then what does God teach us in this? God wants us to know and confess that we cannot do anything without God.

I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing (John 15:5)

The first covenant with men was a conditional one which Adam and Eve could not keep. The second covenant was with Noah.

Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. (Genesis 6:9)

This word “righteous” was not just the word uprightness used for Adam and Eve. This is the first time that the word “righteous” was used for a man. Noah, as a man who received the Holy Spirit, walked with God. This does not mean that other faithful ancestors like Abel or Enoch were inferior. They were also righteous. This word “righteous” was used for Noah and Abraham specifically because they were the shadows of Christ, who is the head of the eternal covenant – the Covenant of Grace.

One may understand that a covenant is a contract between two parties as the world understands. In fact, the Father does it all. The Father and the Son are one.

Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one. (Galatians 3:20)

Conditional covenants require the absolute obedience and loyalty inside and out. Unconditional covenants are blessings from God. A theologian mentioned that the Hebrew word Berakah (blessing) and Berit (covenant) have the same root. Only when we receive the Holy Spirit, everything the Father and the Son did together becomes blessings to us. Only then absolute obedience and loyalty to God can be done by the power of the Holy Spirit. However, even if we fail, God forgives our sins because we are no longer slaves like Adam but children of God.

He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to Me; when he does wrong, I will discipline him with a rod of men and with strokes of sons of mankind, but My favor shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from you. Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever. (2 Samuel 7:13-16)

Eventually, there is only one covenant, that is the Covenant of Grace. The only covenant God confirms is the everlasting blessing onto His people through His Son. We are no longer slaves but sons of God.

So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. (Galatians 4:7)

With this in mind, we need to be careful when we read about the federal justification and the active obedience of Christ along with the Covenant Theology.

The Reformed theologians have been emphasizing the federal justification. It is true that Christ shifted saints from the land of the dead to the Kingdom by His death. And we are declared righteous as the accused set free from the court room by the judge. But God’s court room is not like the world’s because the judge (Father) and the advocate (Son) are one. In His world, the judge is the advocate, and the advocate is the judge. The advocate does exactly what the judge says. What the Father wants, the Son wants. And the result is the Kingdom.

Those who think there is no hope without the active obedience of Christ doctrine consider that the Law gives the eternal life. They think Christ kept the Law perfectly and then with the righteousness He gained by keeping the Law, Christ imputed righteousness onto them.

Earlier I wrote why this is wrong. I won’t repeat the same things here. The only thing I’d like to reemphasize is that Agape is the fulfillment of the Law. And only God can do it.

This doctrine of active obedience of Christ must be removed, and this is the one of the reasons why we must separate from the former Protestant churches (and the Roman Catholic church).

The heart of the Reformation in the 16^th century is justification by faith. We need to be careful not to consider faith as a tool to get saved. The focus of the doctrine is grace of God. Faith is a gift of God. Every saint has this faith in God because everyone received the knowledge of God. We cannot believe in someone that we do not know. Faith is closely related to knowing God and His words. Faith is not complicated. Faith is simple yet get strengthened as we walk with God. Faith is the work of the Spirit. Everyone chosen by God before creation receives the Spirit at the appointed time.

 Sadly, it has gone corrupt along the way in the hands of the Reformers in the 17^th century England. They quote Luther and Calvin here and there and try to distort truths. They wanted a Christian nation. They thought they could convert anyone into Christian by causing fear through the Law. They sold indulgence like the Roman Catholic. And what we call a Christian nation does not have many true Christians but those who distort truths of God. Arminianism was condemned a long time ago but most of them follow Arminianism. And those who are in the Reformed follow the Covenant Theology and the active obedience of Christ, which God sees as rootless (unorthodox). They are no different from the Roman Catholic church.

This is the truth of justification – there is nothing that a man (even Adam before the fall) can do to be united with God unless God gives His Spirit. It is only by God’s mercy saints become united with the Son and the Father.

Earlier I wrote that Adam did not know God as the Son does because he did not receive the Holy Spirit. The word “breath” that God gave him was not the Spirit but a physical life. Even if we do not look up the Hebrew word to know the meaning of breath that Adam received, it is clear to see that Adam was not like Christ because he fell into temptation. On the other hand, the Son as the Son of Man with the Holy Spirit overcame the temptations from the devil.

Understanding this is crucial for restoring the knowledge of God and also the worship. There is no acceptable worship without understanding God’s will. When I started to have dreams, I understood the two things that God cared. The first message was: My children are not fed.  The second message was: Worship is unacceptable. Therefore, removing false doctrines and ideas in theology is critical.

The Reformed theologians try to explain everything by TULIP. But TULIP has limitations especially when we try to explain Adam before the fall. It is true that God condemns all men because of the original sin.

For God has shut up all in disobedience, so that He may show mercy to all. (Romans 11:32)

From here, ignorant people made up Adam as some superior being, a friend of God. But the Bible never says that he was a friend of God or was like the Son of God. In fact, Adam was a slave who did not know the Master’s thoughts. Some covenant theologians think Ezekiel 27 and 28 describe Adam in the garden of Eden.

In the pride of your heartyou say, “I am a god; I sit on the throne of a godin the heart of the seas.” But you are a mere mortal and not a god, though you think you are as wise as a god. (Eze 28:2)

Most importantly, Adam did not believe in God. He trusted the devil’s words. Was Adam wise? Yes, in a worldly sense. Was Adam wise like Christ? The answer is: No.

The Bible, from the start to the end, explains that a man cannot keep a single command of God without the power of God. Therefore, the Bible denies salvation by works. There is no place for Arminianism, or Semi-Pelagianism in orthodox Christianity because even Adam before the fall needed Christ.

After everyone got shut up in disobedience because of Adam, we humans need a saviour who not only redeems us from our iniquities but also makes us be born again from heaven. Only Christ by the Father’s will can change our status from a mere slave who does not know the Lord’s will to a son of God. If we remain as a slave (although upright), we cannot know God. We will fall again and again if we remain as Adam.

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. (John 15:16-16)

Only Christ is given the task to make us sons of God and build the eternal dwelling of God – the Kingdom.

Here I am not going to discuss about the imputation or infusion of righteousness of Christ. Theologians made theology very confusing and some of the terms make things more complicated. In a nutshell, the Reformed believe that Christ’s righteousness is imputed to saints.

What I’d like to focus on is Christ’s righteousness. Those who hold immovable child-like faith do not need to be explained about this. But for the sake of the new visible church, I write this so that she is well-equipped to defend herself.

Earlier I wrote that I came across Romans 3:11-18 and the passage attracted me when I was 6. For a six-year-old, verse 10 and 11 were a mystery.

There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. (Rom 3: 10-11)

I asked myself then: What is righteousness? Only in 2017, I started to understand the word. What I came to know in 2017 was that only God is righteous. When I understood the word, I was surprised to find out people define righteousness in many different ways. In churches, people often connect this word to God’s Laws and doing good deeds in the sight of the world.

Some may say that my understanding is the same as others. But there is a big difference. Even though one appears to live a pious life and does many good deeds in the sight of the world, God may see him/her as unrighteous. For example, the notorious heretic, Arius, was a church leader and was very popular among people because of his pious life. But he did not know God. He denied Trinity. He was the opponent of Athanasius, who was a true prophet.

To explain the difference, I need to write about the Holy Spirit. But I’d like to focus on the kind of righteousness that Christ had. Christ, as the son of God and also as the son of Man who received the Holy Spirit, had the same righteousness as the Father. But while His righteousness came from the Father, theologians explained that the righteousness of Christ imputed to saints is different from God’s righteousness, and that righteousness came from Christ’s works – active and passive obedience. This is very confusing and does not make much sense.

Even Calvin made this confusing. If I understood his writings well, he understood that one is righteous when he/she keeps the Law perfectly. And it appears that he separated Christ’s two natures when he explained about His temptations and sufferings. But I think he was merely explaining a particular passage at a time instead of understanding the entire Bible. He mentioned not to speculate on Adam’s fall but the reason why Adam fell is crucial in understanding Christ. But Calvin was careful not to go beyond what was written. Covenant theologians still struggle to prove that Calvin’s theology supports the active obedience of Christ and the Covenant Theology.

Calvin talks about the righteousness of Christ imputed to saints in his institute Book 2, Chapter 17. Unlike the Covenant theologians who emphasize on the Law, Calvin focuses on Christ’s suffering on the cross when explaining His righteousness according to Romans 5:12-21. Paul relates Christ’s righteousness to the death on the cross. Christ Himself explains that righteousness is related His returning to the Father (John 16:10). And Calvin admits that Christ’s righteousness is not from Himself but from the Father.

“Therefore, when we treat of the merit of Christ, we do not place the beginning in him, but we ascend to the ordination of God as the primary cause, because of his mere good pleasure he appointed a Mediator to purchase salvation for us. Hence the merit of Christ is inconsiderately opposed to the mercy of God.” (The Institute 2.17.1)

For a better understanding, you may read the entire chapter. But I’d recommend not to read theology books. The Reformers in the 16th century relied heavily on Paul’s letters to explain justification of saints and made speculative theories. What Paul tried to do was to explain God’s mysteries in a way a new believer could understand. Bringing human philosophies (especially Greek philosophies) into Paul’s letter is leading the opposite direction that Paul tried to show. Peter warned us a long time ago to be careful when interpreting what Paul said.

He (Paul) writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. (2 Peter 3:16)

It is crucial to understand the entire Bible to understand Christ’s righteousness imputed to saints. “Christ did everything!” We hear this a lot in churches. But it is actually, “The Father did everything!” And this Christ also says in John 5:19:

So Jesus answered them by saying, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself [of His own accord], unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever things the Father does, the Son [in His turn] also does in the same way.

While theologians and ministers say we are saved by Christ’s merit, they treat His merit as His own. And they bring Adam to the table and say Christ did what Adam could not. Combined with the doctrine of Free Will, they emphasize the excellence of the will of a man called Jesus. Thus, they limit Christ as a mere man. It is not surprising that the original doctrine of the active obedience of Christ by Anselm of Canterbury tells us that Christ had to keep the law to qualify Himself. In other words, Christ had to work not to become like Adam. This is a heretical teaching.

Christ’s righteousness imputed to saints is the King’s righteousness not just a mere uprightness that Adam had. Adam was naked but saints are clothed with Christ.

But now the righteousness of God has been clearly revealed [independently and completely] apart from the Law, though it is [actually] confirmed by the Law and the [words and writings of the] Prophets. (Romans 3:21)

God did not change His plans in response to men’s actions. The message written in the OT is the same as in the NT.

For all of you who were baptized into Christ [into a spiritual union with the Christ, the Anointed] have clothed yourselves with Christ [that is, you have taken on His characteristics and values] (Galatians 3:27)

Paul himself opposes the Covenant Theology because he does not see Adam and Christ in a parallel way. Christ is from above and Adam is from dust (1 Corinthians 15:47).  

Unconditional perfect obedience was required of Adam because he was God’s slave. Adam was not given knowledge of God as it was given to His Son. The Son’s (and also the adopted children’s) relationship with the Father are shown in these verses:

He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to Me; when he does wrong, I will discipline him with a rod of men and with strokes of sons of mankind, but My favor shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from you. Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever. (2 Samuel 7:13-16)

In conclusion, saints are clothed with God’s righteousness. This is the Father’s will. We are not merely going back to Adam’s position before the fall. Adam’s fall was necessary because God trains His people as silver is purified. The result is the Kingdom.

Theologians and ministers throughout history wanted to believe that God saved all and all they need to do is to go and preach the good news to convert as many as possible. Slowly their focus became people not God. Many made up stories to please many.

For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. (John 12:43)

And their errors are rooted deeply in theology. They encourage people to believe in the errors saying that people are made in the image of God. Their errors can be found in the understanding of Adam in the garden. These are the commonly spoken ideas on Adam:

• Adam was a son of God
• Adam had the Holy Spirit
• Adam was a friend of God and knew God
• Adam was righteous

These ideas need to be examined carefully. Paul explained the differences between Adam and Christ in 1 Corinthians 15:47-49:

The first man [Adam] is from the earth, earthy [made of dust]; the second Man [Christ, the Lord] is from heaven. As is the earthly man [the man of dust], so are those who are of earth; and as is the heavenly [Man], so are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the earthly [the man of dust], we will also bear the image of the heavenly [the Man of heaven].

One may ask, “What about Luke 3:38? It says Adam was the son of God!” Firstly, the Greek word used here is not son (υιός). And secondly, Luke did not write the genealogy to claim that Adam was the son of God, but Christ was a man just like any of us and was also Messiah (Christ). As the second Adam, He came to redeem His elect people (See Romans 5:11-21).

Regarding the question if Adam had the Holy Spirit, many people quote Genesis 2:7 and say that God breathed His Spirit into Adam. The word used here is neshamah (breath, Strong 5397), which was also used in Genesis 7:22:

All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.

Thus, the word used here does not indicate the presence of the Holy Spirit. If Adam received the Holy Spirit, why did he rebel? Why couldn’t he overcome the temptation? His rebellion is contrasted to Christ overcoming the temptations. Before the mission, Christ was anointed publicly with the Holy Spirit. And God announced that He was the Son of God.

Next, whether Adam was a friend of God or not, there is no verse that we can find the answer from. But our Lord defined the meaning of being a friend with God in John 15:15:

No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.

Many theologians and ministers want to believe that Adam talked to God in the garden of Eden as a friend. They put much emphasis on Genesis 3:8. Some claim Adam used to walk with God in the garden. Others say Adam was united with God. Calvin also mentioned that Adam was united with God, but he did not go on making up stories. It is true that Adam had a relationship with God. However, the relationship was a relationship between a master and a servant/slave. If Adam knew God’s plans but still rebelled, then it means he was just like the devil. But Adam was made upright (Ecclesiastes 7:29). Therefore, it is more accurate to say that he was a servant/slave of God who did not know God’s plans. Absolute and unconditional obedience was required of him to stay in the garden of Eden. But Adam rebelled.

God made man upright and uncorrupted, but they [both men and women] have sought out many devices [for evil] (Ecc 7:29)

Because of Ecc 7:29, there are many Adam-worshipers in churches. The word used here is Yashar (Strong 3477), which was also used to describe Job in Job 1:1:

In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless (Tam, Strong 8535) and upright (Yashar, Strong 3477); he feared God and shunned evil.

It is amazing how God put the Book of Job in His Bible to explain His relationship with Adam. There is much to talk about Job.

In a nutshell, Job’s pride lies in his upright/righteous life. He believed that his life would be peaceful and prosperous as long as he followed God’s commands. Thus, when the disasters came, he could not understand. He says he is a mere man but thinks his work-based uprightness is better than God’s righteousness. At the end, he claims that he is better than Adam (or any other men) (Job 31:33). Three friends were given the task to rebuke Job, but their understanding of God was poor, so they failed. In all this, God taught Job a lesson. And Job finally confesses (Job 42:2):

I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. ‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me.’ I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”

Augustine and Calvin mentioned that the root of Adam’s rebellion was his pride. God considered Job as upright, but it was not the righteousness of God. Job’s work-based righteousness was leading to pride, which God saw and revealed. In contrast, saints rely on God’s righteousness:

And You have fulfilled Your promise, For You are righteous (ṣaddiq, Strong 6662) (Nehemiah 9:8)

In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will live securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The LORD Our Righteousness (sidqenu, Strong 6664) (Jeremiah 23:6)

I do not recommend people to study Hebrews or Greek, but it is sometimes useful to look up references to avoid confusion. More study is needed regarding the use of the word Yashar to describe Adam (and Eve) and Job and not saddiq.

Surely there is not a righteous (ṣaddiq, Strong 6662) man on earth who does good and never sins. (Ecc 7:20)

Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as rigorousness (Sedaqah, Strong 6666). (Genesis 15:6)

The words in Hebrews from Strong’s 6662 to 6667 appear to have the same origin.

My conclusion is that Adam was made innocent and upright, but his righteousness was depended on works. When he rebelled against God by eating the fruit, his righteousness was removed and became unrighteous. Saints do not clothe with such righteousness which can be removed. We are not merely returning to Adam’s state before the fall.

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. (2 Peter 1: 3-4)

What I have written here brings the next topic, which is the nature of righteousness of Christ imputed to saints.

When I first learned about the doctrine of freewill, I thought the word ‘freewill’ was a strange word. What I mean is that one cannot have totally free freewill unless one is God. God is the only being that can do whatever He wants to do. Even now He can undo everything he did and start all over again. That is true freewill. However, God promised by His own name so that all he planned before creation would come true till the end. In that, we put our hope because God is faithful.

… By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD… (Genesis 22:16; see also Hebrews 6:13)

People, even Adam and Eve before the fall, do not have such freewill. If any of us has a freewill, then there exists “if”. The word “if” means things can change by my decisions. If Adam had not eaten the fruit…. If the Israelite obeyed all God’s laws… If the Pharisees listened to Christ… If King Saul obeyed God, If Christ did not die… And this “if” appears frequently in sermons, theology books, story books, etc.

The doctrine of freewill is summarized in Chapter 9 of the Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF). The Covenant of Works (CoW) also appears in the WCF, and it has done much harm than good. The CoW sees that there is “if” existed in the garden of Eden before Adam ate the fruit. Most of Covenant theologians insist that Adam was given a probation period for God to test him. According to them, Adam could have obtained eternal life then and there if he kept the command till the end of the period. This is worse than a fairy tale.

Calvin, unsurprisingly, was skeptical about using this term. In his institute book 2, chapter 2, he explained the negative impacts of using this word. The word “will” is not the right word to explain the state of Adam in Eden, that of the fallen people, and that of the saints on the earth. Calvin saw the risks of misusing the word and warned the readers to be careful.

People may then argue that we are not like robots. To refute, I must ask them to explain their definition of a robot. There will be many different answers, and we have different ideas on freewill. What the Bible teaches us is that Adam’s fall was in God’s plan, and no one can change the future.

… for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)

Everything is finished! I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will freely give water from the life-giving fountain to everyone who is thirsty. (Rev 21:6)

The doctrine of freewill also produced unwise speculations on Adam in the garden. Many theologians, especially those follow the Covenant Theology, think we are only returning to the state of Adam in Eden before his crime. They fail to explain why Adam was naked, but saints are clothed in white just like our Lord.

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. (John 15:15).

Was Adam a friend of God? If he was, why did he distrust God and rebel? Did he really know the Father? There is much to write about Adam’s righteousness, but I will do it next time.

Trinity is what separates Christianity from other religions. It is impossible to explain Trinity with human words. There have been many philosophers who tried to explain a god or gods but Trinity is beyond human imaginations or ideas.

Therefore, It is impossible to know God of His words by using the pagan philosophers’ words. It is abominable that Christian ministers and theologians quote the words of Plato or Aristotle or even try to borrow ideas from them. Even Calvin quoted Plato here and there because the Roman Catholic promoted such education then (and now). But he admitted that Plato did not know God.

He said, “…we differ from each other, in that every one appropriates to himself some peculiar error; but we are all alike in this, that we substitute monstrous fictions for the one living and true God—a disease not confined to obtuse and vulgar minds, but affecting the noblest, and those who, in other respects, are singularly acute. How lavishly in this respect have the whole body of philosophers betrayed their stupidity and want of sense? To say nothing of the others whose absurdities are of a still grosser description, how completely does Plato, the soberest and most religious of them all, lose himself in his round globe? What must be the case with the rest, when the leaders, who ought to have set them an example, commit such blunders, and labour under such hallucinations? (The Institute of the Christian Religion 1.5.11).

Many ministers and theologians say we should read this and that book to know God more as if they understand God by their own intellectual abilities. And those books are often mixed with the ideas of pagan philosophers.

Churches have been focusing on bringing more people in rather than educating the saints. Megachurches are rich but do not preach what is true. Education has been downgraded to satisfy the majority. And slowly, churches have lost their ability to function because they want to satisfy many. Their Christianity is no longer for those who enter through the narrow door.

“Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin standing outside and knocking on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ and He then will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’ Then you will begin saying, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets!’ And yet He will say, ‘I do not know where you are from; LEAVE ME, ALL YOU EVILDOERS.’ (Luke 13:24-27)

A certain logic is required to understand God’s words. But this logic is given by God and stays intact only by the power of God. People who received the Holy Spirit are often misguided by their ministers to read books with full of errors. Saints often waste their time and money on them.

It is like there are million pieces of puzzle. Most theologians focus on looking at what each piece shows and failed to put pieces together. This is the disadvantage of the systematic theology. Sometimes pieces are placed in the wrong places. If we wholeheartedly seek God’s guidance, He will put the puzzle pieces together so that we could see His plans. But theologians and ministers say they do not need God and they would rather read books of pagan philosophers. Therefore, the knowledge of trinity is not given to them.

The knowledge of Trinity is summarised in the Athanasius Creed and the Nicene Creed. But even if one says he/she has fully memorized them, the knowledge may not be given.

The most shocking thing I noticed in the Reformed church is that even ministers do not know who to call when praying. Many theologians see God as three gods or Jesus is the only God. Many people grow up in churches and believe that they serve only Jesus Christ who saved them from the hands of the Father. The devil already laid foundations for the anti-christ within churches by the hands of the false teachers.

We can only understand the glimpse of the mystery of Trinity when we read the Bible again and again. But even if one read the Bible a hundred times, he or she may not have the knowledge unless God gives wisdom. We can only ask God for His mercy.

The knowledge of the Trinity and the two natures of Christ is found throughout the Bible and in the Nicene Creed and the Athanasius Creed.

People say the word, Trinity, does not appear anywhere in the Bible and thus, it is a men-made doctrine. They are very ignorant of God’s works revealed in the writings of the visible church through saints (people in the invisible church). God knows what is happening in our minds and interacts with His people on the earth constantly through His words and His Spirit. There are a few important church councils happened in the church history. The first church council was the Jerusalem Council that we read in Acts 15. The instructions of the council are as follows:

The apostles and elders, your brothers,

To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:

Greetings.

We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. So, we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.

Farewell.

(Acts 15:23-39)

Verse 29 appears to contradict to what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 8. But Christ says in Revelation 2:14, “But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality.” Eating food sacrificed to diols is a grave sin if one’s heart is corrupt. In other words, those who are rebuked in Rev 2:14 had wrong intentions. Idolatry is always connected to sexual immorality. Having a wrong intention is a sin. We judge people by their actions. But God judges the heart (and the actions). This is consistent with Christ’s teaching as shown in Matt 5:28.

But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matt 5:28)

What a church council concludes needs to be interpreted with the right understanding of God’s words. God’s words come first.

There are church councils that are considered illegal in the sight of God. For example, the Council of Trent was illegal because God ordained the Reformation.

In the early church history, there were three councils that discussed about the Trinity and the two natures of Christ, which define the foundational knowledge of God. They are the Council of Nicaea, the Council of Constantinople, and the Council of Ephesus.

Theses councils (and all legal councils) have two important purposes:

Firstly, they discuss and confirm what the Bible says regarding specific matters.

Secondly, they identify heretical ideas/teachings.

Looking back our church history, the invisible church struggled to defend herself. As we see in the life of Athanasius, the false believers are much more than the true believers. And the enemies of God are always in churches and try to distort truths of God. They kill and torture God’s true children as we see in history of the Waldensians in 16^th century.

Every time she was under pressure and persecutions, God gave her the wisdom and authority to write things that could help the saints in future. The church councils were not perfect and there may have been the reprobate people in the councils, but the outcomes were what God willed. However, the knowledge is still growing and does not stop at the Creeds and Confessions.

God wants us to eagerly seek for His guidance and confess that we do not possess the wisdom. It is the Holy Spirit who works within us produces good fruit. The church council members discussed important matters that define orthodox Christianity. As we can see, our knowledge as the invisible church grows as time passes and she will be fully ready when Christ comes back. God appointed the system of the visible church so that saints could learn.

The word “theology” came from the Greek word Theos (God) and Logy (Study of). Thus, theology is the study of God. People often think theology is restricted to the learned people. But any idea about God is theology. Theology is everywhere in the life of a Christian.

Theologians and ministers love to talk about who said what and who wrote what. I heard a seminary professor saying that he wishes he never spent so much time on reading theology books when he was young. There is not much you can learn from a theology book or a Christian inspirational book. I read Calvin’s Institute. It may be useful to read it if you want to understand orthodox Christian beliefs. But I’ve seen it misused many times. To reduce any confusions, it is better to read only the Bible. Read it every day (at least 4-5 chapters per day). The Holy Spirit guides the saints to know God and discern. Christ overcame the temptations by using God’s words. Before the temptations, He received the Holy Spirit as a sign to the world that He is the Son of God. He did not attempt to argue with the devil. Meaningless arguments are often done by people who know little but want to boast about what they read.

Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ Anything more comes from the evil one. (Matt 5:37)

Theology books are often long and too academic. Luther and Calvin were learned people who studied theology at the university level under the Roman Catholicism. They realized that people needed much simpler way of learning God’s words and wrote catechisms. Calvin also promoted early education so everyone could read the Bible themselves. That is the heart of the Reformation. God speaks to us individually and collectively through His Book.

Any attempts to prevent people from reading the Bible or promoting men-written books/articles is deemed as rebellion. Not encouraging people to read the Bible is deemed as idleness. Churches are full of rebellious and idle leaders.

The Bible is strictly for the elect people but those who do not know God always try to confuse God’s elect saying that there are better books than the Bible. We always need to be aware of this temptation.

Regarding what version of the Bible we should read, I’d recommend using various versions till you find something that suits you. I now use more word-to-word Bibles but that does not mean other Bibles are useless. It is the Holy Spirit who interprets the Bible. If we were supposed to interpret it literally and by our ability, God would have given us a perfect transcript of one Bible and we should be speaking and writing in Hebrews and Greek. Then theology becomes the study for the learned. But Christ was considered as an unlearned man. We should be proud of the fact we are not learned in the eyes of the world. We listen to God’s words like children. That is the Father’s will.

The Jews there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having been taught?” (John 7:15)

for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes (Matt 7:29)

and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you change and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven (Matt 18:3)

I am not talking about a specific Protestant church selling indulgence like the Roman Catholic church did/does.

Indulgence is a false assurance of salvation. This was one of the things Luther was very against, which led him to write the 95 theses. There were other factors that prompted him to write it. That was the start of the second reformation.

In the present age, the Protestant churches sell the indulgence in a different way. The Baptist churches use the ceremonial baptism. The Reformed also use the ceremonial baptism but interprets it differently. The Reformed believe the ceremonial baptism does not guarantee salvation but that is not what most of their people believe. A pastor from a Reformed church once said that the Reformed people think they inherit faith by birth. Another said that the Reformed people tried to increase the Kingdom size by having many children. This is because many people misinterpret Acts 16:31.

Acts 16:31 They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Basically, you do not inherit salvation just because your parents go to a church. The Reformed people then emphasize that they are true believers because they go to true church defined in the Confessions (e.g. The Belgic Confession, Article 29). Their parents strictly forbid their children to go to a different church because they think they are saved only when they are in their definition of a true church/denomination. They often uphold the Confessions more than God’s words. But against their Confessions, their theologians and ministers come up with ideas that can satisfy many like John Owen and A. Kuyper. It is not surprising they were politicians. I would call this false assurance a new form of indulgence. This promotes hypocrisy and corruption within churches because most of their people do not know God. Yet, they think they have the Holy Spirit and live according to God’s words. Even though one grows up in a Reformed church and learned the Confessions, he/she may not be a true believer.

A saint realized the existence of the only true God at some point in his/her life. Sometimes God let saints go wrong ways until His appointed time comes. Then He calls the person to live as a true Kingdom citizen. Only then, the person can produce good fruits by the Holy Spirit. This is regardless of the background of that person.

Some people in Protestant churches realized this (false) assurance is too weak and came up with a new idea such as how to receive the Holy Spirit, how to speak in tongues, etc. When I went to a Pentecostal church in my 20s, the youth group teacher (now he is a minister) prompted us to speak in strange sounds during prayer meetings because he believed that speaking in tongues proves the presence of the Holy Spirit and thus, the salvation. Emotional music was played, and he prompted us to make random sounds repeatedly. I stood up and took up my brother’s hand and we walked out. He and other people followed us to persuade us. I said, “No, we won’t do that.” I thought, “I won’t sin against the Holy Spirit by following what you say.”

In one way or the other, the Protestant churches are trying very hard to give their people a false sense of salvation. It is not surprising that most of them now reject “Only Grace” because the ministers themselves fear that they are not in the Book of Life. What they do not realize is that their actions are deemed abominable and faithless by God. They openly deny God’s absolute grace. Their actions and words are the proof of their rebellion.

There is one important question – The reformation: Is it from God or from men?

John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin? (Matt 21:25)

If anyone says it was from men, that person should go back to the Roman Catholic church. But many minister who do not accept TULIP stay in the Protestant denomination. Thus, their action speaks against themselves. Thus, the prophecy is fulfilled:

And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah. (Jer 3:11)

Furthermore, Samaria did not commit half the sins you did. You have multiplied your abominations beyond theirs, and all the abominations you have committed have made your sisters appear righteous. (Eze 16:51)

Church History

I grew up hearing the successful stories of churches in the western history. I was told that God helped the so-called Christian nations, and they are rich and successful and that many in the world now serves God. I was prompted to go out and preach the good news to those who do not believe in God.

Now I know these stories are very biased and made up by men. (There is a church history book written by Philip Schaff. I would not recommend it because his understandings are strange.) There is not a single church history book that explains history from God’s point of view.

Church history is full of false teachers. In the 3^rd century, there were already false teachers in the leadership. Paul of Samosata and Sabellius of Alexandria were heretics. The church history is about people against God and God against people. Throughout the church history, many false teachers tried to please men and used Christianity for their reputation and wealth. However, God was merciful and made it sure the good news was preached to His poor elect people. True Christians are often under persecutions as we see in the life of Athanasius. Church history is full of the dominant false believers persecuting the true believers.

This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. (Gal 2:4)

At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth. (2 Tim 4:16-17)

God still fulfils His prophecies through His saints (Rev 19:10). As no prophet can die outside Jerusalem (Luke 13:33), even now saints die in the church. Zwingli, who was the forerunner of the two reformers (Luther and Calvin), also died under a tree (symbolically a church). These days saints are not burnt at stake but are killed mentally by false believers. The temptations are more severe. Visible churches have become uninhabitable places for saints.

Creeds and Confessions

The most important knowledge of God is in the Trinity and the two natures of Christ. Eastern Orthodox church is not an orthodox church because of their understanding of the Holy Spirit. And all non-Trinitarian churches are not orthodox. My understanding is that God appointed the Roman Catholic church and the Protestant church as two systems to preach and teach His words. Now both systems have failed, and we are about to face the new system.

The trinity and the two natures of Christ are written in the three ecumenical creeds: the Nicene Creed, the Apostles’ Creed and the Athanasian Creed. God gave us the Bible so that we may know Him and gave His appointed people in churches on the earth to write creeds and confessions. The visible churches’ tasks are always to teach and learn more about God. Not all of what they wrote are acceptable. But some stood the test of time, and we have three ecumenical creeds and the three forms of unity (and the Westminster Confession of Faith). They are helpful in teaching new believers.

The invisible church is under constant attacks. And it is God’s will that people learn and equip themselves with the right knowledge to stand through the visible church system. At the end, what the visible church confesses publicly is what the invisible church believes. However, that does not mean some punch of people can call themselves an orthodox church and write whatever they want. Creeds and confessions have limitations and can be used to promote idolatry and heresy if not used properly. They are subject to criticism and can be rewritten if the yare not aligned with God’s words.

There are not many books or articles on the three Creeds. I think Calvin’s understanding of the trinity is good. You can read the Institute of the Christian Religion online for free. But it is all the better if you understand what the Creeds explain through God’s own words. My mother used to say that we should be able to explain trinity without using the word “trinity”. God’s words are not for the learned and clever in this world. They are for the unlearned and the child-like people. Many theology terms put people off. In future, teachers need to be aware of the negative impact of using theological terms such as trinity, pneumatology, eschatology, etc. People who seem to know the least of God’s words may know more than any theologians.

I am mentioning the creeds and the confessions to emphasize their importance. And I’d like to add that the Covenant Theology and the Active Obedience of Christ are against God’s words and the Creeds. They are not orthodox. God warned not to go beyond what is written (1 Cor 4:6). Yet, they believe Adam had a probation period and could obtain eternal life had he kept the commandment during the period. Those who understand the divine election know that everything happens according to God’s will.