Final Reflections 7 - Faith Statement

I know the path, and I am not going to give my life to Christ. It's mine and I want to keep it.

So... what do I really believe anyways? Before leaving, while I still have the chance, I want to testify to what I believe...

1) I believe in the Triune God, creator of all, who is sovereign yet became like us... who is Justice and yet shows mercy and compassion even to the worst of us... who is Love and is holy...God is Light. All language referring to God is necessarily metaphorical.

*God 'the Father' is transcendent... He is "wholly other" than we are. In our human falleness we cannot relate to God 'the Father', we are on the wrong side of the great chasm. This is the Light which is not seen and not felt.

*God 'the Mother' (aka the Holy Spirit) is both transcendent and imminent... She is our creator, our nurturer and our comforter... Sometimes distant and yet sometimes here, the Spirit blows where She wills. This is the Light which is not seen and yet is felt.

*God 'the Child' (aka Christ) is imminent... S/he is here, among us. S/he is the Logos, who comes to us through the women and men of Scripture, S/he is the Logos who was incarnated in the intersexed Jesus.

I am a Trinitarian.

2) I believe in the Logos, the Word of God, the Bible, the Scriptures (for more details, see my Bible section).

3) Humanity was created in the image of God... we were deceived by the Snake of Satan, we fell and became totally depraved. We are the sinners, we are the fallen ones.

4) God chose to have unconditional mercy on everyone, to elect/chose/predestine everyone for Salvation - which is unlimited. Salvation is a gift given to all people.

5) The Logos was incarnated in the intersexed Jesus. S/he was conceived by the Holy Spirit while Mary was a virgin. Mary had a parthenogenic pregnancy and did not know Joseph until after she gave birth. Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life, was baptized, survived temptation, and went on to A) Show us how to live the way God intended and to B) Cure many people of physical and psychological ailments.

6) Jesus entered Jerusalem on the donkey on Palm Sunday ~ yet by the end of the week, the crowd turned against Hir and S/he was crucified. Hir bodily remains were left for the wild dogs underneath the Cross. But in the Christ event, in the Cross, S/he paid the price for all of our sins... the temple veil was torn, religion was put to death, the way to relationship with God became open for all people. At first people thought the death of Christ was the end... but...

7) On Easter Sunday, S/he was physically resurrected, given new bodily form so that S/he was not even recognizable as S/he once had been. This resurrection was not rescucitation, but was a literal, historical, physical event. In the resurrection, God said yes to Jesus and S/he was vindicated. S/he approached the Ancient of Days, coming from Earth to Heaven and was declared righteous. Because of this vindication and resurrection, we know that Jesus is the firstborn of the dead, that Hir vicarious atonement was accepted ~ that we are free and can place our trust in Christ.

8) At the end of time, Christ will return to Earth in full physical form to bring the consummation of God's realm. This will be a literal, physical return. The details are uncertain, but there will be a rapture before the main event... all wickedness will be seized and removed to prepare for paradise... til then the wheat grow with the tares, but on the Day of the Lord two will be walking, one will be taken and the other left behind (which is the better of the two scenarios, being left behind). So, here is a cheer to being left behind.

9) Since Christ's death was effective, the gift of salvation is extended to everyone. All people are saved, as God's elect includes everyone. Salvation had a universal effect. "All sins will be forgiven people..." However, the gift of salvation restores us to a position of having free will, we become once again like Adam and Eve, able to really make a choice. Of course, we all suck and we all choose horrid sins from time to time. Unfortunately, some people choose to reject God's gift and knowingly, intentionally and purposefully choose not to participate in God's realm. Having already given everyone the Gift, there is nothing else to save one who commits the unforgivable sin. "...except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit".

10) The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Child, trying to lead all people, in all places, in all religions, in all countries... trying to lead them on the path to sanctification. We all make the mistake of sometimes not listening, of quenching the Spirit... but the Holy Spirit is loving and nurturing and will continue to lead anyone who lets her. However, to completely shut the Spirit off and refuse any more guidance - to knowingly choose to work for Satan and to never repent, this is unforgivable sin.

11) Everyone is saved except for those who are in the unforgivable sin. So, what is hell really like? We don't know, other than that it is when one finally gets their way and is permanently separated from God. God does not predestine anyone for damnation - rather, it is freely chosen by some. We have _no clue_ who is and who is not beyond reach. So, we should live as though EVERYONE is our brother and sister in Christ. Leave God to sort out at Satanic nastiness... I personally adhere to the belief in annhilation, that the lost are not punished forever themselves... Rather, the "Eternal Fire" is God's holiness and justice, which necessarily exists forever and also necessarily consumes and burns up all evil. Some people will take longer to burn than others, but there is even mercy in judgment. But, God's holiness mandates that some day all evil will be no more. Whether or not some of us burn for awhile to be 'purged' is, I believe open to speculation and possibility.

12) We live in an eschatological tension... now, but not yet. We live between the inaugeration of God's realm and its consummation. As saved and redeemed people, we are called to love everyone, work for justice and equality, to bring the realm here... "On Earth as it is in Heaven". Someday God will truly be all in all.

13) Personally, I have accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I am a sinful human being, I cannot make myself right ~ but I place my trust and faith in Christ Jesus of Nazareth.

Hey Paxi

Why would you want to leave us, someone hurt you? I'd love to have you around for a long time to come, as I'm sure the rest of us...