My Christian / Biblical beliefs

Where I am in my Christian 'walk' at present:


I find myself without a church congregation where I can feel 'at home' doctrinally due to my deeply held beliefs that are almost unique to me. I have attended churches that I disagreed with because as a single man, I felt it was not healthy for me to be isolated from others who at least claimed to be Christians who believed the Bible. It was, at times, hard to continue attending such churches where they believed incorrect doctrines (as far as I was concerned). Some of the hymns and worship songs they sung contained words and ideas I disagreed with. I did not feel 'at home' in those places but I kept my peace. I frequently kept Hebrews 10:25 in mind. The only alternative was to study the Scriptures alone every 'Lord's Day' and not meet with people who were only partly like-minded to me. Not ideal but neither was hearing incorrect teachings taken for granted during sermons, songs, even announcements every week. There was a 'tipping point' some weeks ago when the public car park church members and attendees used was closed by the local authority and I felt that was the logical time for me to discontinue attending the church I had been going to for several years.

So, what do I believe that makes it so hard for me to find a congregation of Christians where I can feel 'at home'? This is a short list of some of the distinctive beliefs I have.

 1.  The Ten Commandments are still in force today. All God's people must believe and promote that fact. Jesus said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments" (John 15:15; 10). Jesus left us in no doubt that those who practice 'lawlessness' would not be saved (Matthew 7:21-23+). How many deceived preachers will be cursed on the 'last day' because they taught that the Law was nailed to the cross? Many! The only thing that was nailed to the cross of Christ was the 'handwriting of requirements' (NKJV), or the 'IOU' we all owed God for our sins. Jesus took all those sins upon Himself (Col 2:13, 14).

 2.  The true 'Lord's Day' is the seventh day, or the Sabbath; what we call sunset Friday to sunset Saturday. Biblically, every day begins and ends at sunset. The 4th commandment requires us to rest from our everyday activities (eg work, school/college, shopping, entertainment and other non-religious activities) and focus on our Creator and Saviour every 7th day. Christians should attend a worship service and perform spiritual duties every 7th day, if at all possible. (Christians are free to attend worship meetings, Bible studies, prayer meetings etc any day/evening of the week but such events are optional whereas keeping the entire 7th day holy unto God every week is a duty we are required to obey if we do not wish to sin. Remember this: perfect obedience of all of the Ten Commandments will not save anyone as we are saved by grace. Salvation is a priceless free gift; you cannot earn it, or it would no longer be a gift. Jesus shed blood is what saves people, not anything we do! Think of grace as: God's Riches At Christ's Expense.

 3. What is sin? 1 Jn 3:4 tells us sin is disobedience of (or 'transgression' of, KJV) God's moral law, the Ten Commandments. So, if you know it is right to observe the 7th-day Sabbath and you do not do so by, for example, attending a sports event instead of going to a worship service, that is a sin, James 4:17.  Sin has been a curse to the human race from the beginning. It caused a total separation between humanity and God in the Garden of Eden. Sin is mentioned in Genesis 4:7. I believe God explained all about sin to our first parents. He must have since we read in Romans 5:19, For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. The pre-incarnate Jesus would not have been fair if He had not explained the consequences of disobeying His laws to Adam and Eve. I take that as a given.
In Ps. 119:172, we read, 'all your commandments are righteousness'. According to 2 Peter 2:5, we read that Noah was a preacher of righteousness, so long before the (2nd) giving of the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20 and Deut. 5), sin was a tragic reality among the human race.
The topic of sin is a big one and it takes much Bible study to understand fully how important it is but it is a subject every Christian should take the time to study.

 4. God inspired His servant Paul to write Romans. In 6:23, we learn that the 'wages of sin is death' but in contrast, 'the gift of God is eternal life'. What is 'death', in this instance? It cannot be 'eternal life' is some place (eg. hell) or a state of separation from God since 'eternal life' is the reward of the saved. I think it is clear from the Scriptures that the wages of sin is loss of spiritual life or a state of non-existence. Malachi 4:3. Bear in mind only God has immortality, 1 Titus 6:15, 16. Also, note that immortality is something that Christians must 'seek', Rom. 2:7. Why would anyone need to 'seek' something s/he already possessed? Paul also spoke of 'putting on' immortality at some future time, 1 Cor 15:53.  At this stage, I ask, What is the reward of the saved? Is it Heaven? NO! I will write a lot more about this universally misunderstood concept shortly but the biblical answer to this question is, The reward of the saved, in the short term is ruling over the Earth under King Jesus after He returns in power and glory and rules the entire world from Jerusalem. God speed that day! The time when the 'dead in Christ' receive their glorious reward will be at the time of the first resurrection at the 2nd Coming of Jesus, along with a vast army of angels who will all fight the armies of the world. They will number about 200,000,000 horsemen (Rev. 9:16).
A rewarding Bible study awaits those who put in the time to explore all that the Bible teaches about immortality. Truly, at present, only God is immortal, as we read already. No-one is immortal until s/he receives the gift of the Holy Spirit upon repentance and water baptism (Acts 2:38) and 'endures t o the end' (Matthew 10:22 & 24:13) and is fully 'born again' (John 3:3) and changed from mortal (ie. flesh and blood) to immortal (ie. spirit substance) at the time of the first resurrection (Rev. 20:6). Again, this is a vast topic and requires a lot of Bible study. It will not be time wasted! It needs to be said, those who are accounted worthy to be saved (Luke 21:36; 2 Thess. 1:5) will become in a sense members of the God family (Rev. 3:9). NB. Note what Jesus Himself said to the saints of the Philadelphia church, "indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you" Only God is worthy of worship. The saved saints of the church of Philadelphia would also be worthy of worship so they would be 'God beings' to a limited degree. Also, note what John wrote in 1 Jn 3:2, 'Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. This is a little-known Bible Truth that has been hidden from many believers for many centuries. 

 5. What is the nature of God? Is God one Being or two, or three? Is the Godhead made up of 3 Divine Beings in One, 3-in-1, a Trinity or two Beings? My belief is the latter. I believe John 1-3, 14 shows the Father ('God') and the Son ('the Word) make up the Godhead. So, where does the Holy Spirit fit in? I understand the Holy Spirit to be the mind, power and presence of the God. It is everything God is but it is not a Person or Being as God is! Let me be very clear, I believe Jesus is the Creator, the eternal God Who spoke the universe into existence. He had fellowship with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. He was the God of the Old Testament, not God the Father! He was never identified as the archangel Michael! He created Michael and has always been infinitely superior to him. 

Is God a Trinity?


 6. The weekly Sabbath is a requirement for all God's people today in the 21st century. So too are the annual Sabbaths* God gave to His people, the children of Israel, under Moses' leadership in the wilderness.
Lev. 23 lists the annual Sabbaths His people were to continue to observe throughout their generations, or as long as their descendants existed on Earth. They still do exist, of course. The Jews make up only a small amount of the ancient 12 tribes of Israel and they are the only visible people-group that observe the annual Sabbaths today. Nevertheless, they make up only a minority of all real Israelites alive today scattered throughout the world.
The vast majority of Christians believe the holy days of God (not the Jews!) were fulfilled by Jesus' life and death and resurrection and therefore need not be observed by His people today or during the entire 'Church age'. Such is faulty reasoning, however. The annual Sabbaths 'the LORD' gave to the children of Israel were to be kept 'throughout their generations'. Since they still exist, God's holy days should be observed and as we learn in Gal 3:28, 'There is neither Jew nor Greek [gentile]....;for you are all one in Christ Jesus' so the days God gave the Jews (Israelites) to keep, all God's people are duty bound to keep - even in the 21st century. (I have yet to be convinced otherwise.)
The first of these days is the Passover, which is observed at the beginning (just after sunset) of the 14th day of the first month of the Hebrew (sacred) calendar during spring (March/April) in the northern hemisphere every year. It is not a holy day so it is called a festival but not a Sabbath. It is, of course, a required occasion for all Jews who take their religion even part-seriously. 
The following day is the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This is a seven-day festival. the first day and the last day are annual Sabbaths, also referred to as 'high Sabbaths. 
The third annual Sabbath, the Day of Pentecost, also called, the Feast of Weeks. Pentecost means 50 and the method of calculating the day on which this Sabbath occurs is by counting 50 starting on the day after the weekly Sabbath during the festival of Unleavened Bread. Since Day 1 of the count is always on a Sunday, Pentecost always falls on a Sunday.  
The fourth annual Sabbath falls during the 'Fall' (September.October, in the northern hemisphere) every year. This Sabbath is called the Feast of Trumpets [Mon. Sept 10, 2018] and it occurs on the first day of the seventh month of Tishri. (This day is celebrated as New Years Day by Jews since their main calendar starts of this date. This can cause confusion to those who are new to understanding the Hebrew calendar and the annual Sabbaths of the Lord.) 
The fifth annual Sabbath is called the Day of Atonement [Wed. Sept 19, 2018] and it falls on the 10th day of Tishri. It, like all the other Sabbaths, weekly and annual, starts at sunset the previous day. It is a fast day when no food or liquid can be consumed unless a person has a medical condition and their health would be put at risk if they obeyed the letter of the Law. This is a very solemn day of reflection and re-commitment to the Lord. 
The sixth annual Sabbath is the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles [Mon. Sept 24, 2018]. It falls on the 15th day of Tishri, the seventh month. This is a joyous seven-day festival that God's people look forward to all year.  It pictures the wonderful peaceful happy world under Christ's rulership during the Millennium. Day seven of this festival occurs on the 21st Tishri. 
It is followed by the seventh and final annual Sabbath, called the Last Great Day [Mon. Oct 1, 2018]. This day, like all the annual Sabbaths, are packed with meaning for all Christians who love the Truth eg are all those who never heard the name of Jesus Christ lost? Are loved ones who never came to saving faith in Christ lost forever? The meaning of this day is all about answering such difficult questions. The Bible has answers and they are wonderful and give us reason to be full of hope. Incidentally, this is NOT the only day of salvation! This belief is based on a mistranslation. Compare Isa. 49:8, which reads, 'in a day of salvation' with 2 Cor. 6:2, where it reads, 'in the day of salvation'. This life is not the only day of salvation for most of mankind. I'm not talking about a 'second chance'. The fact is, the vast majority has never had any chance to accept Jesus as their personal Saviour. They lacked the spiritual software in their minds to understand what was at stake. Simply put, they were not called and therefore could not be saved during their first physical lives. Another way of putting it is, they were not predestined to be called during their (first) lives. Only God the Father can call a person to seek and desire salvation (John 6:44, 65). It is only by observing the annual Sabbaths that God enables believers to understand more about His wonderful plan of salvation for all of Adam's race! (Remember the saying, 'The proof of the pudding is in the eating.' God blesses those who are obedient to Him with more understanding of hidden spiritual knowledge and wisdom! It's His perocative who He reveals His Truth to and when!) What the Bible says about this Sabbath answers and makes clear all the many questions and 'loose ends' people have about their 'unsaved' loved ones and humanity in general. Another thing to bear in mind is, we should work out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Philipeans 2:12), not be preoccupied with anyone elses' salvation!
Apart from Pentecost, most of these annual Sabbaths can fall on the weekly Sabbath. Such days are called 'double Sabbaths'

Some resources for you to read, should you wish, while I update my blog:


God's Holy Days - Or Pagan Holidays?

Holidays Or Holy Days

Holy Day Calendar