Tag: faith

Job 36 Trust in the Lord

July 19th, 2025

Remember that you are to exalt His work,
Of which people have sung.
All people have seen it;
Mankind looks at it from afar.
Behold, God is exalted, and we do not know Him;
The number of His years is unsearchable. (vv. 24-26)

The chapter itself is self-explanatory; adding anything to it seems unnecessary. Many expositions by various ministers and theologians exist for each Bible verse. Strangely, reading them does not always improve my understanding. Understanding the meaning of Hebrew or Greek words does help at times, and occasionally reading others’ comments confirms my understanding. However, reading others’ words does not necessarily deepen my understanding of God. Reading the Bible and praying are more beneficial than simply listening to and reading what others say.

Having said that, it’s important to share what we know because the church is made up of chosen people endowed with different gifts.

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills. (1 Corinthians 12:4-11)

We have the greatest leader—One who sees both inside and outside of us. This leader created us and formed the world according to His marvelous plan. All we need to do is listen to what He says in the Bible and pray to Him so that we may gain understanding. We follow Him with the faith He has given us. We do not compete with Him in righteousness. We do not boast as if we made ourselves. We do not judge Him as we judge others—for He is God.

We, as humans, judge based on what we see and hear. This has been the case from the very beginning. We trust ourselves more than we trust God. That is what Adam and Eve did. We pretend to be gods and judge God. When Jesus Christ came as a poor and uneducated man, we were quick to judge Him. We crucified Him, accusing Him of being a sinner. We rejected His teachings and closed our ears to the truth.

However, some among us are saved. They were chosen before the foundation of the world. God teaches them, just as He taught Job. He purifies them through suffering so that they remain humble and remember their beginning.

We, the saints, are no different from Adam and Eve—yet we are forgiven. Our old, dirty clothes have been washed by the blood of Christ. We are clothed with Jesus Christ. God sees us as if we were His only begotten Son. Christ was not afraid of dying because He knew what His death would bring. He knew His Father fully and loved Him, just as the Father loved Him and gave everything to Him.

Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life, and may enter the city by the gates. (Revelation 22:14)

I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, My soul will be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a groom puts on a turban, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. (Isaiah 61:10)
Deuteronomy 12 The law demands us to know God

April 28th, 2024

You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you are going to dispossess serve their gods, on the high mountains, on the hills, and under every leafy tree. (v.2)

… be careful that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from your presence, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?’ You shall not behave this way toward the Lord your God, because every abominable act which the Lord hates, they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire for their gods. (vv. 30-31)

When we read the law, it is easy to interpret them literally. We think that we will get a blessing if we keep the law. The Israelites thought the same. But no one keeps the law. People have been doing whatever they think fit since the beginning.

You shall not do at all what we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes; for you have not as yet come to the resting place and the inheritance which the Lord your God is giving you. (vv. 8-9)

The purpose of the law was not for us to keep it perfectly and gain righteousness. The essence of the law is love, which only God can do.

The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:8)

Those who thought they knew God and His law were rejected by Christ because they thought they could keep the law. We read in Matthew 23:13-36 that God curses them eternally. Christ did not fulfill the law by keeping it literally. He is love. And that love was shown on the cross. He gave His own life to buy us.

Only be sure not to eat the blood, for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the flesh. (v. 23)

When interpreted literally, it is not difficult to keep this law written above. For those who have no understanding of God, it is impossible to understand this verse:

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. (John 6:53)

The Apostles understood this relationship between love and the law just as Christ had taught them. This is not something one can learn by reading many theology books. Most theologians interpret the law as the written code. They interpret it from a moral perspective.

Christianity is engulfed by false Christians who believe that they need to sacrifice regularly to atone for their sins. They use different forms and methods. But they are the same. The largest group of false believers is probably the Roman Catholic church. I am not saying that all Roman Catholics are false Christians. I believe most of them go to church without knowing what they are taught. Likewise, people who are in the Protestant churches do not know what they are taught.

Christ has already forgiven our sins and changed our status from slaves to children of God about 2000 years ago. We do not need any sacrifices for our sins. Instead, we offer up a sacrifice of praise to God for what He has planned and fulfilled and will fulfill. There is no other assurance than our faith in God. We read the Bible and believe that God is true. And He will fulfill all His promises.

Through Him then, let’s continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips praising His name. (Hebrews 13:15)
Predestination and Grace

January 31st, 2024

I have been writing blog posts for more than a year. I tried to point out the significant flaws in the Reformed theology concerning the covenants. I believe that God is displeased with the Covenant Theology and the Active Obedience of Christ. That does not mean that God approves Dispensationalism. All of them are bad theories. At present, there is no theology that accurately explains the covenants. Understanding the covenants is important because they explain God’s will in creation, which is the kingdom of God.

When I started this blog, I believed that God would bring people to my blog. I did not seek money or fame. I did not use social media to promote my blog. My job was to tell people that the third reformation has started. The church era is ending because churches have been treacherous and rebellious. Theologians and ministers take people back to slavery. And I found the cause in the Covenant Theology and the Active Obedience of Christ. With my limited English, I tried to explain why they were wrong and what went wrong after the Reformation.

God gives wisdom to His people. Regardless of our backgrounds, we understand God as the God of the Bible. The Bible explains who God is. But those who do not know God understand Him as an idol. They use the Bible to explain their gods. But their gods are no better than the golden calf that the Israelites made in the wilderness. They think that they must do something to receive blessings. They invent ways to please their gods. They convince others that they must do something to receive God’s grace. They put much emphasis on the law but they do not keep the law. They do not understand the law as self-sacrificing love. Almost all theologians and ministers preach that the law as the written code gives eternal life. They say that Christ had to keep the law perfectly to earn eternal life. With their theories, the saints are tied to the written code. They are wrong. On the outside, they appear to preach TULIP. But their wrong understanding of the covenants and Adam lead people back to slavery. Eventually, they deny predestination. Predestination is directly linked to God’s total grace. It is not strange that most Protestant churches hate predestination at present.

Predestination does not make God cruel. Without predestination, we must work to receive God’s grace. Many Christians think that they can earn grace. They do not know God. They have not received the Holy Spirit.

Predestination explains that God has chosen some to be saved and others to be eternally punished before they were born. God can do anything He pleases. We must not judge God by our understanding of righteousness or the law. But rebellious people do. Only God is righteous. Being God is righteousness. Everything He does is righteous. Only those who have His Spirit understand Him. He wants to train His people through suffering and make them into His kingdom. Who can say to Him that He is wrong? We are nothing but dust. The world we live in is only a prelude to the real world that is coming. The world is not about me or you but about God. God does not exist for your or my salvation.

Peter turned around and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them—the one who also had leaned back on His chest at the supper and said, “Lord, who is the one who is betraying You?” So Peter, upon seeing him, said to Jesus, “Lord, and what about this man?”Jesus said to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!” (John 21:20-22)
John 21 (4) “Do you love Me more than these?”

January 23rd, 2024

Now when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” (v. 15)

Luke 4:1-13 and Matthew 4:1-11 tell us that the top priority in everyone’s life is food and wealth and power that secure food. From birth, people need to work for their food. As soon as we can, we get a job or jobs to prepare for our retirement. We are slaves to food and money. All humans need food to maintain physical life. God cursed the ground after Adam’s rebellion and we all have to work hard to feed ourselves. People go after idols that they think can give them food and wealth. They also need to work for their idols. They do not realize that they are slaves.

In the last 100 years, we experienced an abundance of food. But now we face the consequences of our greed. Climate change is real and threatening our lives. We eat toxins every day because soils, rivers, and oceans are contaminated. We eat to die. What the prophets in the Bible tell us is not far from what the scientists say.

The first sounded, and there was hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. (Revelation 8:7)

It is not that God foresaw all the calamities we are about to face and wrote them in the Bible. The destruction of the earth is God’s decree. God actively destroys the earth and people as we read Zephaniah 1. Yet, humans have brought calamities just as the Bible tells us. Humans have no control over nature although we think we do. Instead, humans destroy everything out of greed. On top of this horrible sin, they deny the existence of God who created all things.

For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their reasonings, and their senseless hearts were darkened. (Romans 1:21)

I want to think that Christians are different from those unbelieving destroyers. But I know we Christians are the same. We all go after wealth and prosperity. None of us can say that we have nothing to do with climate change. We ourselves brought this calamity. We, like the unbelievers, have no vision of the coming kingdom. Churches are after money. They are happy as long they have people donating money.

Joshua 7 tells us about an Israelite called Achan who rebelled against God and the cursed valley of Achor where Achan, his children, and all his belongings were stoned and burned. He did not believe that God would provide necessities for him. So he became his own god and took what did not belong to him. For the same reason, Judas Iscariot rebelled. As an Israelite, he was supposed to believe in God and love Him. But he hated God. Likewise, there are many Christians who hate God.

Although everyone deserves eternal death, God shows His mercy and love to those He chose before the foundation of the world. God does not save us because we have great faith. He knows that we have little faith. It is impossible to believe in Him unless the Holy Spirit enters us and makes us born again.

“Sharon will be a pasture land for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds, for My people who seek Me. “But as for you who abandon the LORD, who forget My holy mountain, who set a table for Fortune, and fill a jug of mixed wine for Destiny, I will destine you for the sword, and all of you will bow down to the slaughter. Because I called, but you did not answer; I spoke, but you did not listen. Instead, you did evil in My sight and chose that in which I did not delight.” (Isaiah 65:10-12)

God saves us from the curse of the old covenant. His kingdom is free to those who love Him. Everything is free in the kingdom because we are no longer slaves but children of God. We do not work for our food. Our Father wants His children to seek His kingdom and righteousness. God provides us with food out of His love. The real food is Jesus Christ.

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you. (Matthew 6:33)

For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. (John 6:55)

Love (agape) is the fulfillment of the law. Love is the foundation of the kingdom. Love is the eternal law. Any Christian who boasts of their faith and deeds should be silent. The saints confess that we are no worthy servants and rely on God’s total grace.

I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8)
John 21 (3) How we recognize Jesus

January 20th, 2024

But when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. (v. 4)

But their eyes were kept from recognizing Him. (Luke 24:16)

Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Thinking that He was the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you put Him, and I will take Him away.” (John 20:15)

After that He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep. (1 Corinthians 15:6)

To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of things regarding the kingdom of God. (Acts 1:3)

We know that Jesus Christ truly resurrected because the disciples and the women could not find his dead body. And they saw Him alive. But we need to understand that the disciples did not recognize Jesus Christ because of his physical body but of His words and power. And they recognized Him only when God made them recognize Him.

I also was with you in weakness and fear, and in great trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of mankind, but on the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:3-5)

As I grew up in the Roman Catholic church, I became familiar to the face of Jesus that the church had made – a handsome white man with big brown eyes and light brown hair. The appearance of Jesus in Revelation 1:12-16 is not that of Jesus made by the church.

People judge everything by what they see, hear, touch, and taste. Those who are spiritually blind judge everything by what their blind eyes see. For them, big church buildings and a large crowd are important. They want handsome-looking Jesus. False ministers and theologians seek approval from many people. They want fancy clothes and good seats. But true Christians meditate on the words of God day and night.

What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— and the life was revealed, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was revealed to us— (1 John 1:1-2)

Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. (John 6:68)

God dwells in each saint. And when we speak the truth of God, we are like Jesus Christ, who did not take the authority of God by His will and might. With this in mind, we understand the work of the Holy Spirit.

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross. For this reason also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11)

Obedience was not the condition for Christ’s successful mission. The power came from the Father’s love. We also do not need to meet a condition to become God’s children. Those who receive God’s love obey Him naturally. Yet, God rewards us for our faithfulness when we do not deserve any rewards.

… the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and they will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.” (Revelation 4:10-11)
John 19 Christ died as the head of the church

January 6th, 2024

Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over Me at all, if it had not been given to you from above; for this reason the one who handed Me over to you has the greater sin.” (v. 11)

Many theologians and ministers explain that Jesus died as a man but did not die as God. But I am not sure if this is the right explanation.

Christ is from heaven while we are from the earth. Yet, Christ is the head of the church. Christ has clothed with humanity and became God-man. The invisible church is clothed with Christ and became man-God. The church has become like Jesus Christ although her beginning is a sinful human.

and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. (Romans 8:17)

Christians around the world focus on Christ’s humanity because they want a god who is a human. This idea can be found in many fictional stories and movies. People want a human savior. People reject Christ because he is not entirely like them.

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things just as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15)

Some people ask: Can a man who does not sin represent mankind? The Bible tells us that Christ did not even think of sinning because sinning from the heart is also sin. Adam had the intention of sinning before he ate the fruit. This means that Christ is not like Adam before the fall. I do not think Paul was preaching that Christ died for all people as everyone fell because of Adam. Many people misinterpret Romans 5.

I think that Christ came to the earth as the church completed and perfected when He became a man. Therefore, the church died when Christ died. This event is linked to the Lord’s Supper before His death.

I do not completely disagree with the idea that Christ died as a man, not as God. But I’d like to warn people when understanding this. Significant errors and confusion came when people separated Christ’s two natures.

It is more accurate to say that Christ died as the head of the church and His death and resurrection apply only to those who are chosen in Him before the foundation of the world. The Israel nation in the OT was a shadow of the church but many Israelites rejected Jesus Christ as the Son of God.

He came to His own, and His own people did not accept Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God. (John 1:11-13)

Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this purpose I have been born, and for this I have come into the world: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice.” (John 18:37)

Christ did not die and resurrect for all mankind but only for the invisible church. As the head of the church, Christ could not share His suffering with other people. No one could die for Christ.

Jesus replied, “Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny Me three times. (John 13:38)
John 17 (2) Sanctification within

December 23rd, 2023

Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. Just as You sent Me into the world, I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, so that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. (vv. 17-19)

Justification and sanctification can be distinguished but cannot be separated. For the elect, they are not difficult to understand. However, the description of justification and sanctification is too wordy and philosophical because theologians have been trying to convince the unbelievers with their words. The mystery of God is hidden until God opens the eyes of His elect children. This is not revealed to the reprobate no matter how much they try to understand.

Turning to the disciples, He said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see the things that you see, and did not see them, and to hear the things that you hear, and did not hear them. (Luke 10:23-24)

Many theologians and ministers have been using the words of philosophers to know and explain God and His will. But their efforts are useless because their heart is not in God but in people. This error of using the words of unbelieving philosophers is quite common. I think that Augustine, Luther, and even Calvin were not free from this error.

Justification and sanctification are closely related to righteousness. In earlier posts, I mentioned that only God is righteous. And those who are united with God through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are righteous. The narrow meaning of righteousness is being morally good. But it is more like uprightness which Job had (Job 1:1). The righteousness that is imputed to the saints is bigger than that. And it has to be bigger than that.

Our Lord, Jesus Christ, was accused of breaking the law and morally wrong by the scribes and the Pharisees while He was on the earth.

The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a heavy drinker, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ And yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds. (Matthew 11:19)

For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. (John 5:18)

In many ways, the Pharisees were more righteous than any other Jews. However, our righteousness must exceed their righteousness. This righteousness is not from works but from being one with God. It is not from works of the law or obedience. It is directly from God. We receive it by becoming His children. This righteousness comes through faith in God.

For I say to you that unless your righteousness far surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:20)

It appears that the Jews at the time of Jesus believed that the rich were more likely to enter the kingdom of God because they could do good works using their money such as helping the poor. It could be that richness was interpreted as a blessing or reward from God. The Pharisees loved money and had money. Churches around the world also love money. But Jesus spoke what was contrary to their belief.

And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. (Matthew 19:24)

When explaining justification and sanctification, theologians use words like imputation, infusion, extra nos, intra nos, etc. John 17 explains them more simply and more accurately. Jesus Christ justified and sanctified His people by being salt and light inside the leavened dough. I mentioned that salt and light kill bacteria (leaven). In the same way, Jesus Christ has sanctified His church by becoming a human just like her. And the church stays sanctified because Christ is one with her. God is always with us (Immanuel). Christ entered the corrupt world as salt and light to remove leaven. Anyone who is outside this (sanctified) dough does not belong to Him. Again, the mystery lies in the person of Jesus Christ. Although His works represent Who He is, the mystery is found in the person of Christ with two inseparable natures.

… but if I do them, even though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father. (John 10:38)