Election, Predestination and Salvation, Part #2

Earl Gillespie

The Election of God
Doctrine Freedom of the Will
Part #2

The "Doctrine of Election" is taught in the Scriptures, and that it applies not only to "service," but to "salvation."  The Doctrine of Election  means that God has chosen some to be saved and others to be lost, yet this is not acceptable to many as they teach that the Scriptures clearly state that all men are lost. "For there is no difference: for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Roman 3:22-23.  Does the use of this verse and the above statement present an accurate representation of the truth or does this present an irreconcilable difference in the interpretation of the scripture? Paul says, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."  He did not say, we all are lost.  Moses and David were elected by God to serve a particular purpose in the establishment of his Kingdom, yet they sinned.  

Based upon a particular and pointed interpretation, there are  many irreconcilable differences in the scripture, such as the age of the earth, the creation of the different races, or even what day of the week Jesus was crucified, just to name a few.   During the season of Easter the question is often revisited,  "If Jesus was buried on Friday and resurrected on Sunday, how is that three days?"   The increase in the knowledge of good and evil causes man to question, even his creation.  Many are able to base their beliefs upon one segment of the scripture which is a contradiction in itself, then there are Bible students who have stepped away from the indoctrinated views and are seeking to find a deeper understanding of God and his Word. 

It is undeniable, The Election of God is seen all through the Scriptures. God chose Abel instead of Cain, Shem instead of Ham and Japheth, Abraham rather than Nahor, Jacob, the trickster rather than Esau the generous-hearted, Ephraim the younger is preferred before Manasseh the elder, and so all down through the Old Testament we see the selecting hand of God, not only in the choice of individuals but of kings and nations. As proof texts we have "For He said to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy." Romans 9:15-16. "Therefore hath He mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardeneth." Romans 9:18. As a young child in Bible Study  I was well aware that Pharoah was ready to give up the fight, but God said to Moses, "I will harden his heart."  "Hash not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?" Romans 9:21. "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you." John 15:16.   

Simply put, the “elect of God” are those whom God has predestined to salvation. They are called the “elect” because that word denotes the concept of choosing.  From these scriptures we see that God has "elected"  a group of people even before the foundation of the world. Some were selected for salvation and some were cast aside.  This concept does not set well within the church and it very well shouldn't as we will attempt to explain later.  The concept of God's chosen people is first found in the Old Testament. God chose Israel as His special people. "And because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them; and He brought you out of Egypt with His Presence, with His mighty power" (Deuteronomy 4:37). "For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth" (Deuteronomy 7:6 // Deuteronomy 14:2).  Now for a point to ponder, Paul was not chosen because he was actively seeking repentance for the deeds he was doing, he was elected to be a spokesperson for Jesus.   If we rephrase the statement made in the opening of this paragraph to say the elect of God is those whom God are predestined to fulfill a specific purpose in the  in the Kingdom, a window of illumination should appear.   In the makeup of a Kingdom there are many different positions, some are selected, some elected and some are filled based upon a person's desire to be of service to the Kingdom.  

Now, on the other hand, we have the "Doctrine Freedom of the Will" as taught by the church.  "All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." John 6:37. "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16. "As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the Sons of God, even to them that believe on His name." John 1:12. "Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." John 5:40. The last call of the Bible is a general call. "And the Spirit (Holy Spirit) and the bride (the Church) say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Revelation 22:17.  Jesus final message to the church in the Book of Revelation was, “whosoever will let him come.  

How are we to reconcile these seemly apparently contradictory statements of Scripture?  First lets establish a few guidelines, without these guidelines our dissertation will digress into nothing more than an overworked fairy tale. There are many different groups mention within the Bible, angels and demons, the Jews, the Gentiles and the church.  Of these groups, some are earthly bodies and some are spiritual bodies, the church is a spiritual body.  Problems have arisen because the existing church as a spiritual body on a natural plateau became overly possessive and began to claim the blessings of Abraham.  The blessings of Abraham are earthly blessings never intended for the church. If the church, the bride of Christ is a spiritual body, then it blessing are of a spiritual nature.  Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:32  teaches us that we should, "Give none offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:" These three groups are mention in one statement or verse, indicating that they are separate entities and each having their own special makeup, they must remain separate, one does not supersede the other.   The church is the 'Bride of Christ', the Jews will forever remain the 'Bride of the Father', who for the present he has divorced.

What would happen if we began to shape the scripture so that the directives that applied to the children of Israel applied to the church, or even the gentiles?  We would have a polluted and non-sustainable gospel.   In the beginning of Jesus ministry, the disciples were cautioned not to go into the way of the Gentiles.  As with the teaching in parables, he was being selective in his message.  Prior to the formation of the church, the message of the Kingdom was to the Jews only.  The church, the bride of Christ, did not replace the Jews.  The church, or the 'Saints of God' have a special mission as the Holy angels of God.  


The second step to reconciling the perceived difference in the scripture is that we must be aware of the difference between ages and dispensations within the Holy Scripture.  We also  must be conscious of who is talking, what is being talked about and who is being spoken to. Whether it is a message to the Jews, a message to the Gentiles, or a message to the Jews and the Gentiles which make up the church.  In most instances the message is different.  In 2 Timothy 2:15 Paul admonition is, "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."   To claim the message to Moses is a message to the church the scripture is quoted, Matthew 4:4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.   It is easy for the pious elite to preach that this mean we must do everything that is written in the Bible, yet even the presentation is a contradiction and violation of the established order set forth by God in the Old Testament.  Paul explained it this way in 2 Timothy 3:16,  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

The third step is understanding the concept of the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven or just plain simple Heaven.  To simplify I will just use the word Kingdom, Jesus often spoke of the Kingdom, indicating that it was his intent to establish his Father's Kingdom here on earth.  The watered down concept of Jesus coming back is,”I just want to be ready when he come” does not speak to the makeup of the Kingdom.  The watered down version of Heaven is a cloud hopping, sprouting angel wings, sitting on a cloud concept that has regressed to the beliveability of a good fairy tale.   It is the place that we want to go, but life here on earth is so much better. 

Remember James and John come to Jesus with a special request?  Mark 10:36-40  And he said unto them, What would ye that I should do for you?  They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory (Kingdom). But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? And be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? And they said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized: But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared.  Those that it was predestinated even before the world began.  

The kingdom of God does not appear as a peripheral topic in Scripture.  Both testaments speak of God’s kingdom. Students of Scripture must be taught and understand the kingdom in order to properly apply its truths and understand its implications. Too often the readers of Scripture, and many churches in  particular, tend to limit the topic of the kingdom of God into a discussion merely of the earthly Messianic kingdom of one thousand years duration. In the same fashion, the discussion, too often addresses the matter of the future land of Israel alone. On the other hand, many pastors and church members automatically assume that the kingdom of God refers only to greater spiritual realities with reference to salvation and either ignores or deny outright the reality of a literal and an earthly kingdom being established here on earth.  

Next

Part #3

Doctrine Freedom of the Will and  Foreknowledge'

Election, Predestination and Salvation, Part #1

Earl Gillespie

A Study of Election, Free Will, Predestination and Salvation
Part #1
Introduction

My mother was a great encouragement to me to study and restudy the word of God.  I remember one morning at the breakfast table, she asked me, " Why did Jesus often speak in parables?"  I quickly responded with a cliche that I had heard from my youth. "Jesus spoke in parables to make his message so plain that even a farmer could understand it." "That's what I thought and taught for many years", she said.  She suggested I read Matthew 13:10-13  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? And he answered and said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables; because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.  

I then read Mark 4:11-12,   And he said to them, To you is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to them who are without, all things are done in parables, that beholding they may behold and not see, and hearing they may hear and not understand, lest it may be, they should be converted and they should be forgiven.  What began to come clear was some was selected to hear and understand the parable and some was not.

Such has been the dispensation of divine truth in all ages of the world, that the higher spiritualities of religion, though accessible to all who really seek them, are covered by a veil from the open gaze of the profane. It is so down to the present hour. Many listen to the preaching of the gospel all their life, to whose minds any actual conception of the nature of redemption from sin, by the Son of God, never penetrates. Divine Providence seems designedly so to arrange the dispensation of truth, that, seeing, sinners may, if they choose, not see, and hearing, not hear.  Thus, it seems as if some were selected to hear and some are not.

In Luke 8:10  And he said, To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest in parables, in order that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.

That seeing they might not see, that is, that while enough is exhibited to them to invite their attention, they may still be left at liberty to shut their eyes to the truth, if they choose. There is nothing more striking in the government of God, than the reserve in the communication of religious truth, which seems to have marked the divine administration in all ages of the world. The higher spiritualities of religion are not forced upon the attention of unwilling minds; there is a veil which conceals the sacred interior from all, excepting those who find in their hearts an honest desire to know and do the will of God, which leads them in.

One of the things that stood out clearly was that Jesus was not using parables to open up their understanding, he was teaching in such a manner that, "Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given..."   And interesting context should be applied here, was Jesus promoting the message or was he cloaking the message?   Validating the subject of this blog, it seems as if some was selected or "elected" to hear, see and understand and some were not. Considering both possibilities allowed for my mother and I to hold many spirited discussions. 

In her final days her mind would sometimes play tricks with her, in the middle of her conversation she would begin quoting segments of Matthew 7:13-14  Enter ye in by the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many are they that enter in thereby. For narrow is the gate, and straitened the way, that leadeth unto life, and few are they that find it.  She would conclude by saying, "I just want to make it in."

Let us take a closer look at her favorite verses; Verse 13. Enter ye in at the strait gate. Christ here compares the way to life to an entrance through a gate. The words straight, and strait, have very different meanings. The former means not crooked; the latter pent up, narrow, difficult to be entered. This is the word used here, and it means that the way to heaven is pent up, narrow, close, and not obviously entered. The way to death is open, broad, and thronged. The Saviour here referred probably to ancient cities. They were surrounded with walls, and entered through gates. Some of those, connected with the great avenues to the city, were broad, and admitted a throng. Others, for more private purposes, were narrow, and few would be seen entering them. So says Christ, is the path to heaven. It is narrow. It is not the great highway that men tread. Few go there. Here and there one may be seen  travelling in solitude and singularity. The way to death, on the other hand, is broad. Multitudes are in it. It is the great highway in which men go. They fall into it easily, and without effort, and go without thought. If they wish to leave that, and go by a narrow gate to the city, it would require effort and thought. So, says Christ, diligence is needed to enter into life. See Lu 13:24. None go of course. All must strive to obtain it; and so narrow, unfrequented, and solitary is it, that few find it. 

The religious community should spend more time teaching us how to die rather than teaching us to get stuff.   The educational institutions are doing a great job teaching those who apply themselves how to survive.  I would much rather employ my faith in God expecting and preparing for the hereafter rather than trying to get stuff from God here on earth when all I have to do is use my God given skills to make my own way. 

This truth is contrary to what many teach.

This brings us to the first word of our subject, "Election".  As we have illustrated in the above verses Jesus spent many precious moments explaining to those who had, "ears to hear", the concept of the Kingdom of God.  There were those who was elected to hear and understand and there were those who just didn't get it  The lack of understanding when it comes to the Holy scripture is that many does not understand  the concept or the reality of 'Kingdom of God'.  There is a somewhat childish concept of Heaven that has permeated down through the ages.  Heaven is a beautiful place, when I get to Heaven I won't have nothing to do but walk around Heaven all day.  There is the one that says we will sprout wings and fly around the throne of God shouting Holy, Holy all day long.  The social media has created a Heaven where we are assigned a cloud to sit on and watch over our love ones.  It most definitely would seem as if Heaven was a disorderly and boring place without a purpose, just a place where we live forever.  

To help set the stage for part #2 of this discussion, I refer to the question asked by the Sunday School student concerning election and predestination.,  I later realized I stumbled badly trying to answer her question and the pastor did nothing to help me out.  She wanted to know, "If God knew in advance who was going to be saved through a process of election and predestination, then there is nothing could be done about it, what is the point of trying to live a save life?" The question in Bible context, "does the election mean that God has chosen some to be saved and others to be lost?"  

Matthew 24:22  And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

There is no question but that the "Doctrine of Election" is taught in the Scriptures, and that it applies not only to "service," but to "salvation." It is equally true that the "Doctrine of the Freedom of the Will" under certain conditions is also taught. We may not be able to reconcile the "Sovereign Will of God," with the "Freewill of Man," but that is no proof that they are not reconcilable. They are the corresponding halves of the Doctrine of Salvation, "Election" is the Godward side, and "freewill" the manward side. The perversion of the "Doctrine of Election" leads to the "Doctrine of Inability" or Fatalism, which denies the freedom of man's choice, and therefore his accountability or responsibility for his salvation.

Ephesians 1:4-5  According as he hath chosen us (elect)  in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

To be Continued in

Part #2

Election and Freewill

You are invited to post your comments.

Living in Denial

Earl Gillespie

A Country In Denial

A Church In Denial

There is a strange feeling of impending doom that permeates the world.  If not by the hands of God, then by the hands of world leaders or even the president.  This country is going through really rough spiritual and economic times.  Prices are up, wages are down.  People are losing their jobs.   Business after business is going bankrupt, cutting back, laying off, reducing hours. Stocks/investments, people’s life savings/retirement funds are tumbling.  Perhaps we’re in a recession, or even worse in a depression.  

Our schools have become a haven for knives, guns and drugs.  Many of our young people are becoming nothing but a drain on society and we keep looking to God to straighten out what our families and community leaders have messed up. The family structure was dismantled by the government long ago and new ideologies are being adopted. Many churches through special funding entered into a partnership with the government, thereby rendering themselves irreverent as a spiritual body.  As in the days of Constantine, the government and the church joined hands as become mired in a rut of self-importance, self-indulgence and false piety.  This relationship created an erosion that was instrumental in the decline of the Roman Empire and it became the catalyst that led to the destruction of the British Empire.  

This country was founded upon a strong belief in God.  In God we trust was printed on currency and documents and the tribe of Judah once more began to call upon the God of Abraham.  The concept of one God, the Hebrew God as the spiritual backbone, was paramount in the establishment of rules of order and conduct.  In our society God was allowed to roam freely as a separate entity without the restraints of the government.  In our schools the Bible was accepted as a guiding light and the bases of our Laws in the Halls of Justice was the Ten Commandments.  Men in their infinitive wisdom, decided that the laws created by this great nation to protect Christian values should be used to destroy Christian values.  

In todays society, God is being stripped out of our everyday activities and cast aside. Whether man likes it or not, his corrupt nature is the cause of the problems the world is experiencing. Man's nature is the cause of conflicts, arguments, dissension, envy, competition, hatred, wars, stress, and unhappiness in life.  Man, by nature, lives by the way of getting. Only when humanity begins to seek God’s help to change their nature, can they begin to find the true ways to peace. The man that God created whose nature was corrupted by the Devil simply does not know the way of peace. This is evidenced in a bloodstained earth through 6,000 years of human history.

It is hard for most of us to believe that this world is about to enter or has already entered the time of destruction that was prophesied in the Book of Revelation,  which will ultimately end 6,000 years of man’s government—man’s self-rule.   God is moving toward the seventh day, a thousand years of rest when he returns and establish his own rule.  When we see the dark clouds rising, strange weather patterns, earthquakes and destruction throughout the land, It should be clear we are dealing with an angry God.

The destruction that God has pronounced upon man-self rule is a stored up wrath, that he is waiting for the proper time to bring forth.  God gives the analogy of a woman in labor pain to show how these events will unfold. As labor begins, the contractions are farther apart and less intense; but as time between contraction decreases, the intensity of those contractions grows. Such is the reality of labor pain, and such will be part of the proof of what is written in the Book of Revelation.  

The church has already entered into its final state of apostasy as depicted in the seventh letter to the churches in the Book of Revelation.  We are definitely in the seventh church age.  Within the last decade a strange transformation began to take place, the God of our salvation was trivialized and now what once was considered unholy is now acceptable as Holy.  Worship services are drifting further and further away from the once acceptable standards, play acting is a part of, "getting our praise on" as the night club atmosphere invaded the church and respect for  the House of God diminishes as showing off and performances take center stage.   

Do we ever find oneself asking the question, "What is the purpose of all of this"?  Maybe we should do a study on the evolution of God.   Is to know God is to have someone to blame all of our failures on?  Better yet, God is a tool that slick motivational preachers use to make you want to give money so you can get more money.  

God’s purpose for creating human life goes far beyond anything man has ever imagined, even in fiction; and so it can be very difficult to believe the truth.  The truth is deeper than  what some obnoxious religious opportunists will tell you about prosperity and walking in God's favor.  God purposed from the beginning that human life was to be temporary. His design and purpose is that we be changed from mortal to immortal, from temporary life to eternal life. This transition is something that God will offer every human as a matter of choice. God’s ultimate purpose for creating man is that he is to become a part of the very Family of God, in the Kingdom of God.   This is not your life, this is the test. 

When asked, “Why didn’t God simply create us as spiritual God beings and immediate members of His Divine Family?” The answer is: God does not create righteous character in individual beings because living according to God’s righteousness must be and is a matter of choice.  Remember what happen to Lucifer and a third of God's angels that brought destruction upon the earth?  In Geneses 1:1 God began a restoration process, then he created man.  Man failed the first test, but God so loved man that he gave him another chance.  The testing of man's character has been going on for six millennia, God has been patient toward man’s unwillingness to listen to Him through His prophets. His Son, and His Ministers. 

When God delivered the Children of Israel and established them as a nation God reigned as king in Israel and the people were dissatisfied. They wanted to be like everybody else around them.  That sounds strangely familiar today.  We still have a tendency to want to be like everyone around us, even when that is not a good choice.

God, let  them have their way, and have an earthly king, Saul.  But he was a great disappointment and God replaced him with a man after his own heart, David, who was then followed by Solomon.  At Solomon’s death the Kingdom divided, North and South: Israel, with 10 tribes in the North – all of their kings were bad.  Judah composed of 2 tribes in the South, MOST of their kings were bad, too. 

The Book of Joel can be outlined into 3 easy points,            

The locust plague and drought calling the people to repentance

The Day of the Lord with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit

The glorious future of Judah and Jerusalem

1:1-4 It’s a mighty plague of locusts, of unparalleled magnitude, there were locusts everywhere.  Those then living, have never seen anything like it.  People would be talking about this plague be for generations to come.  Apparently, the plague was contemporary with Joel’s prophecy.  It was then and there, happening, Joel’s eyewitness account: Unimaginable ruin and destruction.

In verse 4, there are 4 different Hebrew terms to describe the invading insects — which probably refers to the various stages of the locust life cycle — each stage being more destructive than the one before.  The female locust deposits her eggs in the moist soil, and when conditions are right millions , billions of eggs are laid — on the order of 70,000 eggs per square meter.  Soon these hatch into grubs or larval stage — and the grubs  eat.  Next comes  the pupa or hopper stage, the nymph stage in which small wings appear — and they eat even more. Finally the full-fledged flying locusts — the swarm — which eat all the vegetation in sight.  All told the maturation process goes through 5 molts, and can take up to 3 years.  All the while devastating the vegetation — stripping the fields bare.

The Dec. 1915 issue of National Geographic recounts a similar plague of locusts which struck against Jerusalem — area wide devastation. 

v. 7  — the grape vines are destroyed, the fig harvest is gone.

v. 8  — once the leaves and fruit are eaten, the locusts are still ravenous and eat the bark right off the trees, leaving them white.

v. 9  — There is no grain for offering before the Lord.  No wine for the drink offering.  The food the gone.

Devastation, famine, hunger.

v. 10 — The wheat is destroyed, the barley fields are bare.

And yet the locusts still come, millions, perhaps billions in huge waves.  The sky turns black (2:10)  as they descend like an army, chap. 2.

2:3 — Though the land was rich, fertile, and green — like the Garden of Eden before the plague.  Once the hungry horde descends, only a desert waste is left behind.  

2:5 — As they descend upon Jerusalem it sounds like a chariot attack, rattle, rumble, and roar — as their wings buzz and they strip the vegetation bare.

2:9  — The insect army run along the city wall, invading the houses.

2:11 The plague not is simply allowed by God— we see here that the Lord himself heads up this army of devouring insects.  He leads the attack upon the city.  It was his way to call the nation to repentance.  Now, as to exactly what their sins were, Joel does not say.  Yet whatever they were, it was time for the nation as a whole to turn back to God. 

So we see in Scripture that hard times, bad times, hungry times — are used by God [even sent by God / led by God] — to call a nation back to its senses.  And maybe — in fact, I think very likely, that’s what our current economic crisis is all about: Maybe God is calling our churches and nation back to its spiritual senses.   Then agan, maybe we are running out of time.

If you can accept the God is love concept, then you must accept the angry God concept. 

And yet throughout it all, God is in control.  And if we (as Christians) really believe that our citizenship is in heaven (Phil.3 :20), that we’re only strangers on the earth, just passing through (Heb. 11:13), then the trauma of economy doesn’t affect us nearly so.

Are We Playing With God.

Earl Gillespie

Are We Playing With God?

John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

God is a spirit. This is one of the reason men should worship God in spirit and in truth. By this it is meant that God is without a body; that he is not material or composed of parts; that he is invisible, in every place, pure and holy. This is one of the first truths of religion, and one of the sublimest ever presented to the mind of man. Almost all nations have had some idea of God as gross or material, but the Bible declares that God is a pure spirit. As he is such a spirit, he dwells not in temples made with hands (Act 7:48), neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things, Matthew 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. Act 17:25. A pure, a holy, a spiritual worship, therefore, is such as he seeks--the offering of the soul rather than the formal offering of the body--the homage of the heart rather than that of the lips.

The seriousness of religion and true worship has been offset by what many members of generation x refer to as play acting.  Spiritual emotions have been merged with natural emotions.   If we can accept that God is a spirit, we also must accept that man is composed of two natures. There is the natural man and there is the spiritual man.  There are two types of emotions, there is the natural emotions and there are the spiritual emotions.   It has been said, what God does in the spiritual, the devil mimics in the natural.  The devil seeks to control the natural man through his natural emotions and the natural environment, but God deals with man on a spiritual level, he looks at the heart.  1 Corinthians 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.  The line that separated the natural from the spiritual has been blurred and worship services have taken on all of the elements of natural expressions and natural emotions are are being redefined as the Spirit of God. 

There is this picture of a suitcase full of money making its way around the social media.  The caption says, "believe and click "like, God will give me the money."  Sadly, many people buy into this concept of God.   Based upon the successes of giant pyramid schemes and multi-level-marketing scheme is proof that a promise of money sets the stage for indoctrination and manipulation, whether in or out of the church. 

Despite having one foot in Generation X, I tend to identify most strongly with the attitudes and the ethos of the millennial generation, and because of this, I am not impressed with the play acting that is taking place in the religious arena.  The natural emotions that are displayed and expressed in the entertainment arena such as the nightclubs, the football games and those things that we react to through the five senses are finding their way into the sanctuary.  These new ideas are accepted as a new form of worship designed to draw the millennial generation, that lost generation  back into the church.   The pious elites are praying, but our young people are not rushing to church.  

What is the driving force of getting up in the morning and going to work?  The driving force behind Christian worship is getting a blessing.  Wants and excess have become tools of indoctrination within the Church of God.  The emphasis is, God is going to dump wads of money in your lap.  This is to sustain a natural belief that a blessing is coming our way.  This creates a natural high that will sustain most believers for a whole week, then we rush back to church on Sunday praying for that same blessing.   God is a spirit, maybe we should be praying for the fruit of the Spirit.  Throughout the week we are praying for money, jobs, cars better working conditions and other natural wants.  If we believe in God, what do these things have to do with the Kingdom of God?  The indoctrination  and the programming of the believers once was effective because we were told, "You can have this, all you got to do is...", and blindly we followed in search of the Gold, then the indoctrination failed and the millennial generation began to walk away from God.   Generation X has become guilty of making a play toy out of the God of our Salvation. 

The spiritual aspect of Christianity has taken a back seat and the natural desires of humanity are amplified. There is a question that I struggle with from day to day.  "Why is God changing." The one thing in life that was supposed to stay the same is changing and many remain in a state of denial as sacred services take on a whole new flair and flavor.  The performers and the participants are impressed but there are those lost sheep who are standing outside, they are not impressed.  

According to a recent survey, conducted by the Barna group on behalf of the American Bible Society, young adults, between the ages of 18 to 29, (Millennials) are becoming more disrespectful and hostile towards Biblical teachings than ever before.

Is the millennial generation losing its religion?  This is a question that is often asked by the media as the attendance drop and the number of church closings skyrocket.  The so-called effective pastor now must explore new methods of attracting this new generation who is attracted to the new morality.  

The survey showed that while 79% of all adults believe the Bible should be regarded as being sacred, only 64% of Millennials felt the same way and although only 13% of all adults believe that there is no sacred book, more than 19% of Millennials, believe this to be true.

Time and again, the assumption among Christian leaders, and evangelical leaders in particular, is that the key to drawing Millennials back to church is to make a few style updates, crossover music with a big beat, more casual services, come as you are, a pastor who wears skinny jeans.  But here’s the big thing: Having been advertised to our whole lives, we as members of the Generation X and Millennials group have highly sensitive "BS" meters, and we’re not easily impressed with consumerism or performances.

I would agree and argue that church performances is just one more thing driving many away from the church, and evangelicalism in particular.  Many of us, myself included, are finding ourselves increasingly drawn to high church traditions – Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, the Episcopal Church, etc. –Precisely because the ancient forms of worship seem so unpretentious, so unconcerned with being “cool,” and from a spiritual aspect, we find that refreshingly authentic.  I mean God is a Spirit.


What Millennials really want from the church is not a change in style, but a change in substance  
The indoctrination has failed, our young people are not running to the church, they are leaving in droves

What Is The Spirit of God Part #3

Earl Gillespie

What Is The Spirit Of God
"The Two Spirits"
Part 3 of 3

Genesis 1:3-5  And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.  

Please note in the above verse, God did not say, "let there be day and night". God commanded the light to come forth, thereby amplifying the opposite, which he later dealt with.  From the creative aspects of God, there were certain rules that were followed.  For every action, attribute or entity, there is an opposite.  One is created and the other is the effect of the creation.  For the light to be effective there had to be a division or separation between the light and the darkness.  Good cannot exist without evil, nor can day exist if there is no night. Imagine trying to define love in an environment free from hate.  Man is composed of two natures that are opposite of each other.   The Bible speaks of and define the Natural man and the Spiritual man.  There is the Spirit  of God and there is the spirit of man.  The Spirit of God modifies the Spiritual nature of man and is controlled by God, whereas the Spirit of man is subjective to the control worly influences.  
There is a thin veil that separates the Holy from the unholy, it is the knowledge of good and evil that seeks to define this separation.  It was the God intent to protect man, his prized creation from this strange malady, when he warned him to abstain from the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  The knowledge of good and evil allows humanity to analyze and debate the thin line that separates what is good from that which is evil.  The very presence of this knowledge allows the evil to masquerade as good and it also causes our good deeds to be accepted as evil.  

A simple analogy, using day and night, the day was once set aside for work and the night was for resting and bonding with  family.  The knowledge of good and evil, of day and night allowed mankind to extend the working hours and reshape the waking and sleeping habits of humanity.  In many instances this was not good for the family structure.   Many children grew up hearing these words, "be quiet, your father is sleeping", setting the stage for the single family syndrome.

As the possessor of the knowledge of good and evil, mankind under the tutelage of an evil spirit gained the ability to manipulate the abstracts.  The line that separated the truth from a lie was defined as a thin gray area and the definition of truth became relative to what side of the line you choose to stand.  As knowledge began to increase God's creation began to question the things it could not see and touch.  Lies began to masquerade as the truth.  The ambitious professor then stated, "Truth is that which is formed within a person's mind that bring peace to his inner longing."  That thin gray area is expanding and things that society once abhorred is now declared acceptable.  

What we see in the struggle of the secular philosophers, the ambitious professors, throughout time is the quest for knowledge through logic and discussions.  This is good, but this type of search for knowledge provide no real answers.  Many have come to realize that debates and discussions among philosophers seems to produce mostly more discussions and debates.  Those who escape the pitfall of an evil society are easily drawn into the philosophers creed seeking to prove or disprove the existence of God.  Paul should have put this quest to rest when he stated in 1 Corinthians 2:14 "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."

There are many grandfather today remember growing up listening to their grandfathers tell ghost stories.  They heard the stories and they believed and were afraid.  As a grandfather today try telling your grandchildren about ghosts, a wink from a parent would indicate that granddaddy was getting old and senile.  Our belief in the spiritual world has suffered because of our increased knowledge.  This brings us to the Holy Spirit, verses the evil spirit.  Once our belief in the evil spirit diminishes, it began to masquerade as the true spirit.  The devil's plan from the beginning of creation was to destroy the believability of God.

There are those who claim to possess the Spirit of God, yet they cannot get along with their brothers and sisters.      There are many who claim to speak with the voice of the Holy Spirit, yet they do not agree.  Those that ask the hard question, (Why?) are quickly silenced and left with the impression that they are fortunate to be a part of the only group of believers in the whole world.  The question of what is the Spirit of God, even though it is answerable, might not be able to be seen by those who ask the question because much of what we hear and see is detrimental to the building of our individual faith.  On any given Sunday, tune in to the Christian Television broadcast, listen to the radio, observe and hear how the Holy Spirit act and what it has to say.   The entertainment aspect of worship, the prosperity gospel, to a person living with cancer, there is one word that will describe it, 'confusing'.

Two thousand years ago God existed, but did he change?  The Holy Spirit was in existence in the beginning, but was it seems to have been a different type of Holy Spirt that the one we have today? Did our increase in knowledge of good and evil cause God to change?   What is understanding the so-call  "rising and setting of the sun" prove or changes?  We can debate the rising and setting of the sun or the earth revolving around the sun to the infinite degree, but it will not change the properties of day and night.  We can move our clocks forward or we can move them backward, what have we changed?   

Acts 9:16-18  for I* will show to him how much he must suffer for my name. And Ananias went and entered into the house; and laying his hands upon him he said, Saul, brother, the Lord has sent me, Jesus that appeared to thee in the way in which thou camest, that thou mightest see, and be filled with the Holy Spirit. And straightway there fell from his eyes as it were scales, and he saw, and rising up was baptized;

There are two interesting points to be made in this scripture, (1) There was a promise that Saul would suffer, (2) The laying of hands and how Saul instantly received the Holy Ghost.  For I will show him, this seems to be added to encourage Ananias. He had feared Saul. The Lord now informs him that Saul, who once was his enemy, would ever after be his friend. He would not merely profess repentance, but would manifest the sincerity of it by encountering trials and reproaches for his sake.  

When Paul set out opn his journey he was controlled by the natural lust of man.  He was ruled by his quest for power and wealth.  Paul was a highly educated man, therefore he understood the realities of life.  By todays standards we could say he was blessed. As he traveled to the road to bring pain and grief to the church, he was confronted and convicted by a simple question, "Saul, why dost thou persecute me?"   The persecution of the church was to suppress the workings of the Holy Spirit and allow the spirit of man to flourish.  This was to allow for the creation of a religion that was alien to the Word of God.  

The Holy Spirit prepared Paul to suffer in the flesh for Christ sake.  In today's Christian environment, we are not prepared to suffer. We want, and we beg for the goodness of Heaven here on earth. Our prayers are a request for blessings and miracles.   


Romans 8:5  For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

Galatians 5:22-23  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, fidelity, meekness, self-control: against such things there is no law.

The thin line that separate the Holy from the unholy has been expanded and that which is unholy is now accepted as Holy.