The Trinity in Salvation

In my first book, "Great Words of the Faith", and in the chapter on "The Trinity", I quote from Augustine, the 4^th century theologian: "If you deny the Trinity, you lose your soul; if you try to explain the Trinity, you shall lose your mind." 

If you have difficulties with this fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith, you may find that chapter to be useful, and even enlightening. Remember that all royalties from all of my books are sent directly to Release International, in support of the persecuted church.

However, although that chapter is quite comprehensive, it is not definitive. So, here is some more on the Trinity!

The anonymous writer (my personal opinion is that it was Barnabas!) of the great Letter to Hebrew disciples of Jesus, having written of the animal sacrifices of Judaism, continues: "... how much more shall the blood of Christ, Who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God."(9:14).

Note the implicit reference to the Trinity in those words: "The blood of Christ . . . through the eternal Spirit offered . . . to God." There is also a beautiful Trinitarian implication in Ephesians 2: 17-18: "And He [the Lord Jesus] came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father."

The promise of Christ to send the Holy Spirit is a high point of the Gospel of John. "... I will pray the Father," said the Lord Jesus, "and He will give you another Counselor," (Greek parakletos, meaning "one called alongside"), "to be with you for ever," (John 14:16). "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." (John 14:26). "But when the Counselor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, Who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness to Me;" (John 15:26).

 

It seems very clear from such Scriptures as these, that each of the three - Father, Son, Holy Spirit - is a distinct Persona. Yet that the three together are one God is also clear from the fact that they are identified, by Name, as One. Converts are to be baptised "... in the Name (note the singular: 'onoma' - one Name) of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." (Matthew 28:19). Note also the benediction formula. "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ (which is all-sufficient), and the love of God (that never fails), and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit (Who never forsakes), be with you all. Amen" (2 Corinthians 13:14). What we cannot fully understand in our minds of this wonderful triune Godhead, we can understand and believe with our hearts.

Is Hamas innocent?

This is not, and has never been intended to be, a purely Judaism-supporting blog. However, I object strenuously to the fake news, and the failure by most of the MSM to report news that would show the State of Israel in a good light. I also follow One Who was born a Jew; lived as a Jew, in the land that is known as Israel; and died on a Roman cross under a placard that read "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" (written in the three most commonly-spoken languages of the time!).

Having said that, I do not support every policy of the secular Israeli government. For example, I have been informed that the abortion laws in Israel are among the most liberal in the world. I have not been able to confirm that information but, if true, then I certainly do not support such laws, and pray that they will be repealed. I certainly do not agree with permission being granted to those whose lifestyle is an abomination to HaShem, to parade, and flaunt that lifestyle in the Holy City of Jerusalem.

Nevertheless this week, as every week, Hamas terrorists and their supporters took part in violent riots along the Gaza border. For many Israeli families, the Gaza Strip is a short walk from their back gardens. IDF (Israel Defence Force) soldiers don’t just protect a border, but what lies behind it - Jewish families, Jewish homes, and Jewish children. The world refuses to blame terrorists who brag about their plans to “tear down that border and tear out their hearts from their [the Jews] bodies,” (a quote from Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar). 

"Palestinian" terrorism has nothing to do with Jerusalem, and everything to do with Islam! How can their supporters explain the verifiable fact that Muslims were carrying out terror attacks in the Holy Land - long before Pres. Trump recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and even before the Israeli Declaration of Independence on May 14th, 1948? Muslims who call themselves "Palestinians" (such an ethnic, or national, group has never actually existed!) carry out their attacks, not in the name of "Palestine", but "in the name of Allah"! Hamas - predictably - took advantage of the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem to stage violent riots, aimed at over-running the Israel-Gaza border. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) claimed that some 50,000 Muslims took part in those riots along the border. Some 52 Hamas rioters and terrorists were killed - an unnecessary loss of life that was the responsibility of Hamas! It was Hamas that sent those 50,000 Gazans to the border with Israel - with the incentive of US$100 being offered to families who joined. With these human shields for cover, Hamas terrorists used bombs, guns, Molotov cocktails, and burning kites, to attack Israel!

A closer look at the casualties betrays the violent nature of the allegedly 'peaceful' protests! Terrorists have been shot whilst trying to plant explosive devices at the border fence. Others have been killed as they attempted to open fire on Israeli soldiers. Yet Israel has repeatedly warned Hamas, and its supporters in Gaza, that "Anyone who tries to invade Israel will be shot!" Approximately 4,000 Israeli families live within a mere 2 miles of the border. Israel is obliged to protect these families - and now there have been more than 50 additional deaths. 

The world refuses to blame terrorists who brag about their plans to “tear down that border and tear out their hearts from their bodies,” (a quote from Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar). Hamas is a Muslim terror organization ruling the Gaza Strip since 2007, whose declared goal is the destruction of the State of Israel. Hamas is responsible for Gaza, but instead of providing welfare for its citizens, Hamas brainwashes the Gazans, uses them as pawns against Israel, and exploits them as human shields, even involving/using young children! "Palestinians" participating in the violent Gaza riots have repeatedly flown swastika flags, and sent kites with swastikas on them with firebombs attached into Israeli territory.

The Hamas terrorist group is leading and orchestrating the recent wave of violence from Gaza, aimed at breaking the border fence, storming Israel with thousands of rioters and attacking Israeli civilians. Israeli is not instigating this violence and Israel has the right to self-defense. Israel, like any other country, has a right to defend itself. Israel will not allow terrorists to invade its territory. Hamas, which rules Gaza, is an Islamic terrorist organization that threatens to kill Jews. Hamas terrorists use civilians as human shields and send children to the front line during the riots along the Gaza border. IDF soldiers don’t just protect a border, but what lies behind it - Jewish families, Jewish homes, and Jewish children.

Israel will not apologise for defending itself against Hamas - and I shall not apologise for seeking to spread the truth!

"Facts are chiels that dinna' ding"!

I posted this video on my Facebook page, last night, but believe that it should also be offered to a different audience.  Please feel free to share - at least by directing folk to the blog.

When Jesus of Nazareth appeared before the Roman Procurator, Pontius Pilate, He was asked: "What is truth?" One answer to that question might well be: "Something that some people do not wish to have made public"!

This is a brief video that should be compulsory viewing for all of the anti-Jewish George Galloways, etc., of this world. It simply provides a number of easily-verifiable points.

Paliwood ('Palestinian' Hollywood) at its best!

 

This shocking picture is being used, for obvious propaganda purposes, by terrorist organisation Hamas and/or their supporters. As you can read, it purports to be "... what the medical personnel saw after the Israeli army left this house in Gaza."

If that were true, then Israel would rightly be the object of much, well-deserved, criticism.  However, please look carefully at the bottom one of the three pictures.  Notice, if you will, the object on the door-post at the top right-hand corner.  That object is, most definitely, a mezuzah.

Now, as anyone who has even limited knowledge of Judaism will be all too aware, a mezuzah is an object of great importance - to Jews!  It is part of their physical response to the command, given in Deuteronomy 11:20, concerning the words of YHWH (Ha'shem to a Jew who would not use the sacred Name as someone such as I would do): "... you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house and upon your gates, ..."   A mezuzah might be found in a Christian home (I have one, gifted by a dear Christian friend from Australia that is normally kept on the doorpost of my study), but never - absolutely never - in an Arab home.   The mezuzah traditionally contains a small scroll with the words of the Shema written thereon (see Deut.6:4ff).   Whatever this home, we may be assured that it is not the home of a 'Palestinian' family in Gaza!

However, we do have knowledge of the origin of the photographs.  Revealing this to be an act of the most obscene deceit, they have been confirmed as photographs of the home of the Jewish Fogel family - slaughtered in their home by Islamist terrorists who cut the baby's throat!   I asked, recently, when Hamas would start using pictures from the Holocaust to promote their own agenda - this suggests that such a possibility is not as remote as some may have thought!

You are unlikely to see any of this in the mainstream media, but please disseminate among your own friends and contacts.  The truth must be known!

A German take on the Holocaust!

Some posts are longer than others; and so are some video clips.  However, this is well worth watching - all the way through.

Truth will out!

There are few days in which some reference is not made, in the British media, to the situation in the Middle East.  This does not simply mean reports from the ongoing civil war in Syria; or to the continuing unrest in Egypt; or to the latest visit to one of the Middle eastern countries by some 'high-flying' diplomat/politician.  It invariably means that those nasty Israelis are, yet again, bullying the poor Palestinians.  At least that is what much of the media would have us believe! 

At the centre of the situation is the city of Jerusalem.  It is claimed to be holy (i.e. separated from, and different to, anything else) by both Judaism and Islam.  However, the way in which it is treated by both gives the lie to one of those claims!  Here's a clue - the "Holy City" of Islam is Makkah (Mecca) in Saudi Arabia!

This video gives some interesting information - as does the "Show More" button, just under the screen if you go to the YouTube page to view.   The sound doesn't commence until about 1m20s into the video - so don't adjust your volume!



sh’alu shalom yerushalayim.   (Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.)  Ps.122:6

The "Lord's Prayer"

Over the past two Sundays (four messages!) I shared with the fellowship in Coatbridge Baptist Church on those words that are commonly referred to as "The Lord's Prayer", and that are recited, every Sunday, by many groups within the Christian Church.  Of course, it is, more accurately, "the disciples' prayer" as the words could not be prayed by the Lord Jesus (Who, as the sinless One, does not need to ask for forgiveness; as the self-sufficient One; does not need to ask for daily bread; and as the the One to Whom all glory is due, does not ascribe it to any other).

The news, towards the end of the week, was that the outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has expressed concern at the results of a survy that indicated that only 55% of 6-12 year olds know those words as recorded by Matthew and Luke.  They should, he is reported as having said, be taught it in school.

I have two things to say to His Grace!  First of all, Jesus Himself makes quite clear that the thoughtless repitition of words is of no benefit.  Just before providing this "prayer template", or " model prayer", He said that we should "... not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do;" (Matt.6:7).  To have another generation who are merely able to recite those words, with no real understanding of their meaning and significance, is not doing any good service to the cause of Christ and His Church.

The second point that I would wish to make to Dr Rowan is that it is not, primarily, the job of schools to teach children about the Christian faith.  Now, I know that some (who know me personally) will immediately ask why, if that is the case, I spent as many years as I did, in the classroom, teaching Religious (and. later, Moral) Education!  The answer is simple - the subject was part of the core curriculum and, if it had to be taught, I wanted it to be taught by someone to whom it had a personal relevance! 

However, the task of teaching children the truths of the Christian message is the responsibility of parents!  The New Testament is rooted in the Old Testamant - "The New is in the Old concealed; the Old is in the New revealed" (Augustine).  In Judaism, the family is central - and that includes the teaching and training of children in faith matters.  So the Children of Israel are instructed to remember all that YHWH has done for them, and to "... make them known to your children, and your children's children." (Deut.4:9).  At the Seder meal, prior to Passover (which takes place at the end of this week), the youngest child asks "Why do we do this?"  This opens the way for a recounting of the story of the Exodus - and the child(ren) learn about the religious history of their people.

So the challenge to those of us who are disciples of Jesus, and also parents is to ensure that our children are able, not to recite a form of words, but to pray.  They will learn this if they hear us pray; and this will also teach them that such an activty is meaningful to us.

I have no doubt that the Archbishop's expressed sentiments were well meant.  But let Christian parents accept the responsibility to raise their own children according to Biblical teaching, and then that teaching might permeate throughout a society and culture that so desperately needs it!