Time for a trade-in?

Ecclesiastes 12:14 For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. (ASV)

 

Every believer should be able to picture the hidden things mentioned by Solomon in this verse.  After all, Jesus discusses the keeping place for the hidden things of man in Matthew 6:19-20.  The repository for our treasures has one of two addresses.  Either we are keeping our junk in our own backyards or we are storing treasures in heaven where their value cannot decrease.  Obviously, our own junk, stored on earth, will ultimately be burned up with all of old creation (2 Peter 3:10).  Our own lives, if they are entrusted to Jesus Christ and His saving power, are being stored away in the special heavenly place that Jesus is preparing (John 14:2-3).

 

The problem presented to the calvinist in this picture is to explain why there is any need for judgment at all.  According to Calvin’s defective imagination, God had to be perfectly efficient and could not create mankind without deciding in advance which of these creatures (who were intrinsically evil) He would choose to store away in heaven while allowing their personas to wander the earth for a short time.  Having made His arbitrary choice, He made Adam first to appear innocent and Eve to be not so innocent (you calvinists are intrinsically misogynistic…) and the rest is history.  Since the whole story is pre-programmed and, like evolution, cannot be anything other than what it will be (silly as a song by Doris Day), then there is no point in judgment since no one will do anything other than what he or she was going to do all along.  The calvinist joins with the foolishness that continues to be taught in pagan temples and halls of science throughout the world, trying desperately to explain to a lost world why their junk is really heavenly treasure.

 

The calvinist, in his ultimate foolishness, clings to old creation and tries to force himself to believe that he has found the back gate to the Garden of Eden.  Ignoring the biblical picture, they follow the teachings of a man who imagined vain things and then used propaganda to keep them from exploring the truth…no need for you children to “pry into the eternal counsel of God,” since Papa Calvin will take care of you at the judgment…good luck with that.  Where the Bible clearly teaches that old creation will be burned up (2 Peter 3:12), calvinist theology teaches that this old earth will be restored and they will return to the Garden.  The bad theology of the calvinist teaches that God is an anesthesiologist who inoculates them with peace and wakes them up from the bad dream that they had been down in the world, doing evil things.  None of their evil counts so, again, what in the hell do they mean when they talk about judgment?  Certainly not what the Bible means when it talks about hell and judgment…or heaven and judgment.

 

In the midst of this confusion, or the confusion of any pagan or neo-pagan system, stands the cross of Calvary.  The Cross establishes the standard that will be used to accomplish the judgment of the works of mankind.  The work that Jesus does on the cross establishes a revulsion for sin while maintaining an all embracing love for sinners.  How else can God accomplish the plan that He has worked out down through the ages to do away with sin by becoming sin for us? (2 Corinthians 5:21) The cross is the place where Jesus Christ extends an invitation to any and everyone to trade their sin for a new creation life.

Come to the Cross.

Pay attention to where you land.

Proverbs 11:31 Pay attention! If the righteous receive what is coming to them on earth, how much more (is this so for) the ungodly and the sinner! {Synthetic Version = a vernacular blend of 17 English language translations.}

Here is an example of a poor translation that only gets worse.  How in the world did anyone get the idea that the “ungodly and sinner” get what is coming to them on this earth? 

As a translator, the difficulty one faces is trying to make sure that the sense of what has been stated in another language is truly reflected in the new tongue.  ß Take a look at what I’ve just written and imagine that a translator into some other language focused on the word “tongue” from a technical perspective, the physical human tongue.  If that imaginary translator ignored the idea of “tongue” as meaning “language,” and shifted the meaning toward the tongue in someone’s mouth, the meaning would be skewed.  When the translators of 16 out of 17 of the versions polled for the verse in Proverbs (ironically, the New Living Translation was the closest to a correct translation…) chose to use the word “earth” for the Hebrew aretz, they ignored the falseness of the ultimate outcome of the verse’s meaning. 

Again, how on earth did anyone get the idea that the “ungodly and sinner” get what is coming to them on this earth?  There are millions of “ungodlies” and “sinners” that do not get what is coming to them on this earth.  In some ways, we as believers in Jesus Christ are forbidden from helping them GET what is coming to them…(Romans 12:19).  In some ways, we as believers in Jesus Christ are continually thankful that we do not always get what is coming to us on this earth.  (I am, of course, not taking a calvinist perspective where they postulate that no one actually ever does anything on earth but are robotically controlled by God to be totally ok or totally evil.  This idea is evolutionary and precludes any capacity for “humans” to deserve any recompense for their actions – especially since their actions just happen or were pre-programmed from before creation).

So, let’s rewrite the verse with the proper word for “earth.”

If the righteous receive what is coming to them in the land, how much more (is this so for) the ungodly and the sinner!

Now we have an opportunity to get at the meaning of the author by evaluating the poetry he is using.  When we consider that he is a Hebrew, then we can cast about for parallel verses that will help explain what he is saying.  There certainly are many that are excellent candidates.  My personal favorite is Ezekiel 26:20:

Then will I bring thee down

with them that descend into the pit,

to the people of old time,

and will make thee to dwell

in the nether parts of the earth,

in the places that are desolate of old,

with them that go down to the pit,

that thou be not inhabited;

and I will set glory

in the land of the living:

Obviously, there are two lands that stand in opposition to one another.  The land of the living where there is glory and everything that goes with the Glorious One. This land is not described.  The land of the dead is inhabited by its proper citizens, the twice dead.  They are twice dead because they were dead in their trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1-3) but refused to be delivered by Jesus Christ from that condition after he joined them in that land (Isaiah 53:12, Mark 15:28) to lead them forth to the Glorious One in the Glorious Land. By the way, His deliverance came AFTER the cross…not before old creation.  No doubt the idea that the author was trying to get at was that the repayment mentioned in Romans 12:19 would be final and appropriate. 

There is one place where any weary traveler on this earth who wishes to enter the rest that is promised in that Glorious Land may come.  Jesus Christ has made a way home through His death on the cross.

Come to the cross.

Up to Down, Left to Right.



He does not deal with us according to our sins,
           nor repay us according to our iniquities. 
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
           so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
As far as the east is from the west,
           so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
As a father shows compassion to his children,
           so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.  Psalm 103:10-13 (ESV)

When Calvin made up his imaginary nonsense about pre-packaged reprobates that God made before He ever birthed them into the world, he failed to read this part of the Bible.  What part of "(The Lord) does not repay us according to our iniquities" did Calvin not get?  Hell bent on injecting Greek philosophy into his foolish notions of what Christianity is, Calvin ignored the Word of God.  Calvin decided that a revival of Gnostic stupidity that taught that a limited number of humans were injected with a "divine spark" would jazz up Christianity -- make it more fun.  The fun for Calvin was that he got to teach those who bowed down to him that they were DSR...Divine Spark Recipients.  Calvin was a pagan priest....just like his spiritual daddy, the medieval pope.

The picture that is imbedded in these verses is obvious.  What can be understood as the vertical perspective is seen in the "steadfast love" that connects heaven and earth.  Jesus preaches this perspective in John 10:11-18.  Jesus (Jesus is God) was on earth tending to the business that the Father sent Him to accomplish.  There was no separation between Them even though Jesus was constantly in a realm corrupted by sin and death.  His job was to establish His position as Shepherd.  Steadfast Love between heaven and earth makes salvation available for all who will enter into a relationship with Jesus.  It is not made available before then.
The horizontal perspective, "transgressions removed as far as east is from west" points to a work that we humans (none of whom are totally depraved -- according to the depraved imagination of Calvin) could never accomplish.  The hands of God (Jesus IS God) are nailed in an outstretched gesture that will not threaten (John 3:17).  He who became sin for us, takes sin away into death and beyond, returning to proclaim salvation accomplished in Himself (2 Corinthians 5:21).  Since no one is totally depraved, no one is excluded from having sins removed.  Whosever will may come.  The only place to which humans may come for restoration, salvation, forgiveness of sins and entry into the Steadfast Love of the Father and the Son is the cross of Calvary.

Come to the cross.

Jabbering nonsense...the Myah Myah factor.

We find the three friends of Job sitting with him at the end of a long discussion that seems to be weighty and important.  No doubt they are some distance away from his bad breath (19:17) but they had come to bring him comfort in his affliction.  When the Lord shows up in a whirlwind (38:1), He doesn't take sides with anyone in the discussion but poses a number of questions.

"Who are you people that are jabbering nonsense in the midst of an adult discussion?  Put your big boy Underoos on and play a round of divine Jeopardy with Me and We will see what you really know!" (38:2-3).

Look at how easily anyone can refute the nonsense of Calvin who claimed to know what the secret counsels of God were before the foundation of the world.  The calvinists want to make people believe that God chose them personally before the foundation of the world.  They also want to make people believe that they can tell which of us are rejects and refuse.  Notice, again, that their claim is that they KNOW what happened before the foundation of the world.

"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the world? Remind me of the discussion we had at that time..." (38:4). 

God invites Job to discuss the mechanics of creating the cosmos.  Implicit in His question to Job is that God did not take Job's perspective into consideration at that point in time since Job did not exist.  Humans are not eternal beings; we are adapted to the eternal realm in Christ Jesus.  Notice that God is not asking Job to step into the eternal realm and talk about things that happened before the foundation of the world.  He is talking to the mere man about the actual work of creation.  What happened before the foundation of the world cannot be discussed with mortals until later...until Jesus becomes one of us.

Calvinists go off the rails by making up fantasies about discussions in the eternal realm that they have never heard.  They have no more capability than Job to discuss the creation of the world, much less the "secret counsels" of God in "eternity past".  If you don't know where the corners of the earth are fastened, who can trust your calvinist Myah Myah about being personally chosen for salvation (or that the rest of us were personally chosen to burn in Hell) at a time when you and Calvin didn't exist.

When Jesus does come to mention the mysteries from the foundation of the world (NOT from before the foundation of the world - Matthew 13:35), they turn out to be parables: designed to be hidden from the members of the Myah Myah factory.  Jesus Christ is loved by the Father (John 17:24) from before the foundation of the world, chosen (Ephesians 1:4) before the foundation of the world, and established as the relationship by which humans may enter into the love of the Father (1Peter 1:3-20) before the foundation of the world.  No created or derivative human that was made by the merely human procreative process was hand picked by God before the foundation of the world.  To do so would bypass Jesus and what He was chosen to do.  Salvation is only made available to us in time (1 Peter 1:20).  That time came when Jesus shed His saving blood for all humans.  That time was the cross.

Come to the cross.

Woman Power and salvation.

And so we arrive at Esther in our journey through the books of the Bible that began on 14 July.
Esther is important to me personally because, when its pictures were applied to my heart by the Holy Spirit, I learned that Calvinism was nonsense and that I was a sinner in need of a savior.  I gave my heart and life to Jesus Christ in 1988 and began the long, slow process of learning Biblical Theology that is all about Jesus and the cross (Luke 24:25-27). 

Parable --

Most believers are familiar with some of the parables of Jesus.  It appears that an important part of God's teaching style (Jesus is God) relies on the use of parable.  Pay attention to the parables of Jesus and you will find very few that mention the name of God.  Implicit in His teaching is the fact that these parables are thoroughly valid pictures of how God relates to man and His instructions in the application of righteousness.

Calvin, in his foolishness and pride, despised many of the sacred things of God.  Calvin hated the book of Esther, ostensibly because the book neglects the use of God's name.  Notice that, using Calvin's way of thinking, most of the parables of Jesus should be set aside.  Thank God that Calvin and calvinists did not write the Bible nor select what the Holy Spirit wanted in it.

Esther is a powerful parable that is despised by Calvin and his calvinists because it makes their "theology" a lie.  Calvin taught that he had figured out how God chose those who were "elect" before Jesus died on the cross; even before Jesus created everything (John 1:3...Jesus IS God!).  Calvin taught that when God chose the "elect," all of those that were left over were automatically caused to be reprobates = worthless trash that was designed to help fuel the devil's hell (Matthew 25:41...this verse by itself shows Calvin to be a fool and a liar.  Humans were not designed for hell/reprobation).

The book of Esther clearly teaches that Calvin was not correct in his understanding of election and used his own imagination (like Joseph Smith) to establish the theory of a single decree by God to save only a few while damning the rest.  Calvin did not understand God's use of agency!  The universal decree by Haman that condemned all Jews is a picture of a comprehensive decree of damnation against humanity (Revelation 5:1-4).  Every one is included.  Everyone.  However, working through his agents, Esther and Mordecai, the king allows a new decree to be written that authorizes war in his own kingdom (Esther 8:7-11). A separate decree of salvation that does not negate the first decree.  What a concept!  Sinners in the Nail Pierced hands of a Loving God...Jesus is GOD!  Apparently Calvin wasn't taught this kind of divine thinking at law school.

Clearly, the agency of Esther and Mordecai is the agency of salvation for the Jews.  Clearly, this is a picture of salvation in Jesus.  Any one that is willing to stand with Jesus and fight for salvation is welcome.  The way of salvation for the Jews under Haman's death penalty was not available until Esther gave her life for her people (Esther 4:16).  The way of salvation for all of mankind was not open until Jesus gave His life (Revelation 5:5-6) on the cross and made it the place where whosoever will may come to enlist.

Come to the cross.