Post by Soulgazer on Oct 26, 2014 17:18:41 GMT -5
Pastor Wood had a Sermon today that I adored; to me it just rang so true that it should be set to orchastra music.
Testing God
Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” – Genesis 22:1-2
All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. – John 10:8
Beloved, believe not every spirit,but prove the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world. – 1 John 4:1
Remove yourself from these things, O wretched soul! Bring your guide and your teacher. The mind is the guide, but reason is the teacher.They will bring you out of destruction and dangers. – Teachings of Silvanus
What is goodness? Is something good because it is innately good, because it is commanded to be good, or something else? Plato wrote about this long ago and this has been addressed by many theistic philosophers but yet this question seems to be largely ignored by the religious today. Do we just obey because someone says it is God’s will or that it is in the Bible? Do we sacrifice our child because we hear a voice claiming to be God commanding us to do so? As Christians we have an obligation to question that which is claimed to be good; and especially those claims that are said to have come from God.
We as Christians are often met with opposition when we question what is taught to be God’s will. Commonly quoted are Deuteronomy and Deuteronomy through the Gospel of Matthew and Luke that God is not to be tested. But what does testing God mean? If we look at the Hebrew word for “test” in Deuteronomy it is “nasah” which means to “tempt or to be fool hardy in one’s testing”. An example would be sticking a metal fork into an electrical outlet without any protective gear. While there is slim chance you would survive the shock, it is not a wise thing to do. Questioning a teaching is not tantamount to sticking a fork into an electrical outlet. If the teaching is true, it will withstand questioning. If it is not true, then questioning brings its falsity to light and we come closer to understanding what is true. Questioning if something comes from God is not the same as “testing” God for one is seeking and humble, the other is ignorant and arrogant. To believe in something that claims to be of God without question is tantamount though to “testing” God. I say this because you have not reflected on where you are placing your faith. When a pastor says that God hates Muslims, homosexuals, or insert whatever group is not liked; do you question this or do you accept whatever verse is quote mined to make this person’s point? If a voice in your head tells you that it is God and that you should sacrifice your first born child do you listen, or do you question and tell it no (and hopefully at this point seek psychiatric help)? How do you question God? How do you discern what is of God, if Gawd’s Word can be used to promote evil?
As Silvanus (or at least someone claiming to be Silvanus) states that we have a mind and the gift of reason to help us. While gnosis of the Father-Mother helps with discerning what is of God and what is not; not everyone has gnosis of God’s nature. This is where having a mind and reason helps. We have a picture of what God would be like through the image of Christ. Christ is like a picture of what God would be like if God were a man. Using reason and our “picture” we can assess what is right and wrong; what comes from God and what is not. We know because of our indwelling Christ that God would never command someone to sacrifice their child since such a command would go against the nature of Christ.
There are many who claim to be self-appointed prophets of God that will not allow what they teach to be tested or questioned. Why do they fear testing if they are with God? Is not their“gawd” supposed to be of truth? Should it not withstand testing? They fear that they will be exposed for what they are. They fear that they will lose the false power that they believe to have. Power that is based on a lie folds when the lie is exposed. This is why victims of these false prophets are demonized and hated because they are the fruits of what these false prophets bring forth. They do not want others to know that their fruit is rotten so they will claim that the victims were sick before they ate of their fruits. Those that know Christ have partaken of the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge and Life. Having tasted the sweetness of Christ’s fruit, they know what fruits are of Christ and that which are spoiled. If they have the faith, they will speak up and say that the fruit they are being given is rotten and that they know another way. Will those that have tasted the true fruit speak up against those who give rotten fruit? That is not for me to answer but those who know what I am talking about will.
Being Christian you are required to question what comes from God because God’s nature is love, mercy, and truth. These are not qualities that God possesses but what God is. If it a command comes from God then whatever the command is would be within this nature. If it falls outside this nature then it is not from God. Anyone who claims that God says to do “X” which falls outside of this nature (even if it’s in the Bible or whatever holy book you subscribe to); we can dismiss as not of God. This is why we have knowledge of good and evil within us so that we can be moral agents in our life. Our “curse” is not that we know the difference between good and evil but that we are responsible for the choices we make. Even if commanded to commit evil, we are still responsible for that choice because we have accepted to follow it. We cannot hide behind the excuse of just following orders because we still have a choice to disobey. God knows what our circumstances are and what is in our hearts. The only ones who seeks to condemn us is our accusers and ourselves.
Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” – Genesis 22:1-2
All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. – John 10:8
Beloved, believe not every spirit,but prove the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world. – 1 John 4:1
Remove yourself from these things, O wretched soul! Bring your guide and your teacher. The mind is the guide, but reason is the teacher.They will bring you out of destruction and dangers. – Teachings of Silvanus
What is goodness? Is something good because it is innately good, because it is commanded to be good, or something else? Plato wrote about this long ago and this has been addressed by many theistic philosophers but yet this question seems to be largely ignored by the religious today. Do we just obey because someone says it is God’s will or that it is in the Bible? Do we sacrifice our child because we hear a voice claiming to be God commanding us to do so? As Christians we have an obligation to question that which is claimed to be good; and especially those claims that are said to have come from God.
We as Christians are often met with opposition when we question what is taught to be God’s will. Commonly quoted are Deuteronomy and Deuteronomy through the Gospel of Matthew and Luke that God is not to be tested. But what does testing God mean? If we look at the Hebrew word for “test” in Deuteronomy it is “nasah” which means to “tempt or to be fool hardy in one’s testing”. An example would be sticking a metal fork into an electrical outlet without any protective gear. While there is slim chance you would survive the shock, it is not a wise thing to do. Questioning a teaching is not tantamount to sticking a fork into an electrical outlet. If the teaching is true, it will withstand questioning. If it is not true, then questioning brings its falsity to light and we come closer to understanding what is true. Questioning if something comes from God is not the same as “testing” God for one is seeking and humble, the other is ignorant and arrogant. To believe in something that claims to be of God without question is tantamount though to “testing” God. I say this because you have not reflected on where you are placing your faith. When a pastor says that God hates Muslims, homosexuals, or insert whatever group is not liked; do you question this or do you accept whatever verse is quote mined to make this person’s point? If a voice in your head tells you that it is God and that you should sacrifice your first born child do you listen, or do you question and tell it no (and hopefully at this point seek psychiatric help)? How do you question God? How do you discern what is of God, if Gawd’s Word can be used to promote evil?
As Silvanus (or at least someone claiming to be Silvanus) states that we have a mind and the gift of reason to help us. While gnosis of the Father-Mother helps with discerning what is of God and what is not; not everyone has gnosis of God’s nature. This is where having a mind and reason helps. We have a picture of what God would be like through the image of Christ. Christ is like a picture of what God would be like if God were a man. Using reason and our “picture” we can assess what is right and wrong; what comes from God and what is not. We know because of our indwelling Christ that God would never command someone to sacrifice their child since such a command would go against the nature of Christ.
There are many who claim to be self-appointed prophets of God that will not allow what they teach to be tested or questioned. Why do they fear testing if they are with God? Is not their“gawd” supposed to be of truth? Should it not withstand testing? They fear that they will be exposed for what they are. They fear that they will lose the false power that they believe to have. Power that is based on a lie folds when the lie is exposed. This is why victims of these false prophets are demonized and hated because they are the fruits of what these false prophets bring forth. They do not want others to know that their fruit is rotten so they will claim that the victims were sick before they ate of their fruits. Those that know Christ have partaken of the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge and Life. Having tasted the sweetness of Christ’s fruit, they know what fruits are of Christ and that which are spoiled. If they have the faith, they will speak up and say that the fruit they are being given is rotten and that they know another way. Will those that have tasted the true fruit speak up against those who give rotten fruit? That is not for me to answer but those who know what I am talking about will.
Being Christian you are required to question what comes from God because God’s nature is love, mercy, and truth. These are not qualities that God possesses but what God is. If it a command comes from God then whatever the command is would be within this nature. If it falls outside this nature then it is not from God. Anyone who claims that God says to do “X” which falls outside of this nature (even if it’s in the Bible or whatever holy book you subscribe to); we can dismiss as not of God. This is why we have knowledge of good and evil within us so that we can be moral agents in our life. Our “curse” is not that we know the difference between good and evil but that we are responsible for the choices we make. Even if commanded to commit evil, we are still responsible for that choice because we have accepted to follow it. We cannot hide behind the excuse of just following orders because we still have a choice to disobey. God knows what our circumstances are and what is in our hearts. The only ones who seeks to condemn us is our accusers and ourselves.
