The Truth is a Person: F. Frangipane Second time Around

[dhchristian]

I Am reposting this here by permission of George Himself. To Whoever jumped the gun and moved this know that you did not allow me to finish writing this Post ON PROPHECY before transferring it to the general discussion page. This has everything to do with Prophecy, as Jesus Names himself the "Faithful and True" (rev. 19:11) And those who do not have a love of the Truth will be the ones that fall into the Strong delusion As Per 2 Thess. 2. That being said, this article is the foundation of this post the next few comments from me the Meat of what is being said which is Highly Prophetic. I Just wasted about 4-5 hours of Time of my own and also the moderators trying to explain this, and Would appreciate it if we do not have to go through that again.

So many in this day are offended by Truth, and worse yet many even doubt the Truth asking the same Question Pilate did; "What is Truth". Jesus is the Truth, and they are offended and doubt Him in this Post modern generation of "hyper -relativism" and "identity politics". This article was a blessing To me, and I hope to you as well. 

Truth Is a Person

 

By Francis Frangipane
(En Español)

As we have often stated, our destiny is, first of all, to attain the likeness of Christ. We will fall short along the way; we will have much to learn, relearn and unlearn; we will face many obstacles, but our life vision must not deviate from this goal.

Along the way, there will also be false teachers and ministers. How can we discern the true from the false? In answer to this important question, the Bible itself provides a number of fundamental tests to authenticate the soundness of one’s doctrines. One test in particular comes from the apostle Paul. He writes,

"Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you -- unless indeed you fail the test?" (2 Corinthians 13:5)

Paul takes all of Christianity and sums up its entire body of truth into one irreplaceable reality: "Jesus Christ is in you." This reality is the one needful thing that Jesus said was necessary. We might be misinformed about the timing of the Rapture or misguided in our administration of church government, but Paul says a true Christian is one who has accepted the living reality of Christ into their hearts!

Do you see this? We are saved, not because we said a prayer at an altar; we are saved because when we prayed the Spirit of Jesus Christ actually entered our life! When He promises, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Heb. 13:5 NKJV), He means He is with us forever. The devil knows we are Christians not because we carry a Bible but because we actually carry Christ; Christ’s presence is a flame of eternal life within us.

It is Christ dwelling in us that produces fruit, works deliverance, and manifests power through us. Our living union with Him makes us His temple; our connectedness to Him enlivens us as His body. In the swirl of religious deception in our world, all we need to know about truth and error can be found by focusing on Jesus. He said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).

I believe it is vital to have right theology, but truth is more than theology. "Truth," Paul tells us, "is in Jesus" (Eph. 4:21). And when Jesus is in us, He transforms us.

Consider also the profound words Paul wrote to the Galatians:

"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." (Galatians 2:20)

Paul wrote, "Christ lives in me." The Son of God is not a mere doctrine; He is Emmanuel, "God with us." Eternal life comes from knowing God "and Jesus Christ whom [God has] sent" (John 17:3).

So while there are many important doctrines, all of which are worthy of discussion, our single most important doctrine is that Christ is living within us -- speaking, loving, healing and guiding those born of His Spirit. When someone postures himself as a "keeper of the true faith," yet he rejects the reality of Jesus Christ living within us, that person reveals that he is the one walking in deception.

Truth
In an era of great confusion, we must see truth as a person: Jesus Christ. Everything we need to know about God, Heaven, hell, salvation, sin, and redemption is centered in Him. We must also apply our hearts in humility and focused faith to become like Him, even as John taught, "The one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked" (1 John 2:6).

Eternal life does not come from having a religion about Christ but from actually knowing Him (John 17:3). He has purchased our forgiveness, our healing, and our well-being. As our Redeemer, He works all things for our good. As our King, He grants us His authority and sends us as His ambassadors. He calls us His body, underscoring His oneness with us. And He extends to us His sanctification and righteousness. We are His bride, wooed by His love.

If anyone tries to convince you that Christ does not dwell within His people, remind them of His Word: "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him" (John 14:23).

Beloved, truth springs from our oneness with Jesus Christ. Our vision is nothing less than "Christ in [us], the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27). Warn those who pick at peripheral doctrines yet deny the indwelling of Jesus Christ: The test of true faith is "Jesus Christ … in [us]" (2 Cor. 13:5). Yes, remind them that truth is a person, not merely a doctrine.


Adapted from Francis Frangipane's book, Spiritual Discernment and the Mind of Christ available at www.arrowbookstore.com.

https://francisfrangipanemessages.blogspot.com/2019/09/truth-is-person.html

 

Again This the foundation of this Post, as is the Next Post which was also moved to the General discussion by over eager moderators.

 

[dhchristian]

Maturity In Christ Jesus.

The Question has popped up several times, and I Believe that Jesus And John Gave us the Path to maturity. John in His first Epistle Wrote of the Three stages of our Christian walk, as Children, Young men/women, and Fathers or elders of the faith. but he did not fully define these levels, Jesus on the other hand showed us the way in the sermon on the mount. Some scriptures first.

I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father. I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. (1 John 2:12-14)

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  I Posted an article on this, But this is the very first thing we do when we come to saving that is to admit our need and see ourselves as poor and destitute in God's eyes. this is the conviction of the Holy Ghost when we see the Holiness of God and our helpless state. Read link here. 

Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. The very first fruit of the Spirit is the fruit of repentance. Repentance is the daily mourning for our sinful condition and changes us from the inside out as we turn away from sin. Many post modern churches no longer preach repentance thus they are keeping the members of the church in a suckling state. Some may indeed reach repentance But they are few and far between, and the main reason for this is the lack of preaching on repentance. It is quite possible that Many of the church leaders have never themselves grown past this stage. 

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. The First two beatitudes are self-centered, Meekness is where we begin to intercede for others. Being meek is not weakness, and neither is it Humility, But rather It is the resolve to allow the Lord to do his will through you, to reach others for Christ Jesus. This is the Early zeal that a new believer has to serve the LORD, which in most church settings is allowed to wane and fade away because they label them as busy bodies. I Know anyone who has been  in a church setting is familiar with this, hindering of the move of the Holy Ghost in the life of the believer, by telling them not to rock the Boat. A Believer who reaches this stage is now becomes a "young man". Many in the churches never graduate past this stage.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. This then marks the Young man/Woman phase of our walk. As per the Passage from 1 John, these people now have discernment. They are able to see the World not as Good and evil, but as righteous and Wicked. There is a huge difference between these two concepts, which hearkens back to the Garden of Eden as well as Malachi 3:18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. A Person can do good things externally such as not murdering anyone, But their hearts are still wicked and full of Hate. To Hunger for righteousness is to desire to see the heart changed, both in ourselves and in society as a whole, for then we finally are able to discern who serves God and who does not. As the Old saying Goes, "the road to Hell is paved with good intentions", and much of what passes for church is good intentions and moralism done by the will of man. Once a Christian reaches this level of Maturity are they able to eat the meat of the Word of God.

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Once we learn to discern righteousness and Wickedness we learn to extend Mercy to those who are unable to see and those who are lost. We learn to Love even our enemies, and bless those who persecute us, because of the mercy he has shown and extended to us. Like a cup running over, the Love of God for us begins to flow to those who do not even deserve that Love, Just he loved us who did not deserve his Love.

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. This, then is the final phase of our being Young men, for we have now overcome Satan, and the Word of God abideth in us. Purity of Heart is when our motives become Pure. Our Flesh still being corrupt, can still lead us to sin, But we do not desire the sin in our inner being. This is what marks Overcomers in the letters to the churches in revelation, for through all of the above stages in our walk we overcome the Wicked one, and his schemes, but we cannot do that till we have discernment. Those who are Pure in heart, now become Fathers or Elders in the faith.

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. The first thing an elder of the faith and it grieves them is the lack of Unity in the church. their desire is to Unify all in the Spirit of Truth. Peacemaking is not about tolerance of false doctrines and heresies, but a desire to bring people to a greater understanding of the Truth of the Word of God. They are the leaders in the churches (Or should be) who keep the bond of Peace in the speaking the Truth in Love.

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  The natural outworking of being a leader and an elder is to face persecution. the persecution can come from within the church as the tares that are within try to bring schism, and or heresy in, Or the from without, as the face of the church, from the principalities and powers of this world who want to destroy the church and prevent it from reaching Maturity as a whole. 

Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. The Final call of a an elder in Christ Jesus is to be falsely accused, and physically and mentally persecuted for Speaking the Truth to Powers. It is ironic, that John Writes of the Fathers "for you have known him who is from the beginning." There is no Doubt, there I no wavering from the Truth for the fathers, for they know God who is our creator, and Author, and finisher of our faith... he was and is and is to come. They now have the faith to move mountains and will stand in the end times opposing the Powers that be with their lives at Stake. 

NOTE: Again this is Just foundational information for this Post. I did not want to post all of these at once because of the length of them, and most do not have the attention span to read these, and I will wait a bit to tie these two posts together into Eschatology later tonight. 

[dhchristian]

The Wisdom of The World.

Understood simply, the Wisdom of the World moves in cycles of Dogma, to Deconstruction to a synthesis of opinion thus a new Dogma. This is to Simply a Hegellian dialectic of Thesis, antithesis and synthesis. So For example one may have a Thesis of Darwinian evolution and then an antithesis of a theory such as Panspermia, and the synthesis then is evolutionary seeding of life. Not one Idea or theory has any Truth in it, And in fact the only unifying principle they have is the Denial of God.

This is the Post modern mindset in a nutshell, and it has pervaded the church as well, so much so that the Truth of the Word of God is being questioned, whether By the higher criticism of the 19th century rationalism, or their antithesis the 60's counter revolution, and any synthesis between the two will also deny the Truth of the Word of God. So for example The Higher criticism of Wellhausen of textual authorship and authority of the late 19th century, Led to the criticism of Social more's of culture such as marriage between a man and a Woman, Which in turn has led to the synthesis of homosexual marriage.... None of it has any basis in Truth and they all Deny the Truth of God and his created Order.

The Mistake many make is that they say that Post modernism is the enemy, but what they do not realize is that the whole dialectic at work is postmodernism. So You have many in the churches in this day and age clinging to Modernism and opposing Post modernism But in so doing they are doing the Work of Post modernism's attempt to synthesize and transform what is the Truth.

Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. (Romans 8:7)

Post modernism is just a term for the current antithesis in the 20th century, But this has been going on since the beginning, whether in the form of a church Dogma being questioned and the resulting synthesis or new Dogma being created. Much of the Protestant reformation, for all the good it produced, never fully arrived at the Truth because of this. Because in reacting to the Dogma of the Catholic church, the synthesis they gave us is not fully Truth. That is because they did not see that Truth is a Person, Christ Jesus, instead they saw Truth as a mental ascent an enlightenment , a renaissance of Knowledge and reformation of thought. I Use these terms because of the movements associated with them are all part of the Wisdom of the World. This Wisdom stands in contrast to the Truth, which is a Person, Jesus Christ.

For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. (1 Cor. 1:21)

Truth Was and IS and IS to come

The Book of Revelation introduces us the very name of God, the I Am as being the ever existing one. The name is ascribed both to God the Father and God the Son in revelation saying He was and is and is to come. He is the Truth, and Jesus names himself that in the book of Revelation, and more Specifically He calls himself the Amen in the letter to the final church of Laodicea which is to say the church of this age. Jesus as the Truth personified stands in contrast to the Wisdom of the World as an Objective Person which exists apart from Human carnal intellect, and beyond our Knowing by intellect, instead we must approach him like a little child, seeking help from our state of carnality of mind. The simple concept of Jesus standing at the door knocking waiting for us to let him in speaks of this relationship with the Truth who is a person. He has been there through all eternity but the urgency of this call in these end times is marked by the coming Judgment of those who fail to Love the Truth. If You do not have a love of the truth you Will fall victim to the deception of Satan.

Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 thess. 2:9-12)

But it is the next verse that is often left out of the intellectual approach to end times that shows the contrast to the strong delusion.

But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 thess. 2:13-14)

The Prophecy of Scripture, thus cannot be understood apart from the Love of the Truth, and as much as man may try to bring their carnal mind into studying Revelation, they will fall flat on their face because this very approach to the Word of God using the "higher criticism" of the carnal mind is the product of the Wisdom of this World.

Where maturity in Christ Jesus comes into Play is that In maturity, there is no wavering on the winds of doctrine of men, but rather the focus is on the One who Is the Truth. That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: (Eph. 4:14-15).

Love and Truth are meant to go hand in hand, We Love the Truth who is a person, and in order to avoid the deceptions of the devil our faith and love must be for Him not in our own mental abilities. Intellectualism is not the path to the heart of God, But child like faith is, the ability to admit we need him to help us see is opposite the trust man places in his carnal eyes to see... for they are Spiritually Blind. Until one approaches revelation in this Way their end result will be one that is lacking. For the revelation is the revelation of Jesus Christ the Person who is the Truth personified. This is the blessing of this Book, Within this prophecy we discover Jesus who is the Truth, and who stand in contrast to the Worldy wisdom. Do You Love the TRUTH? Are you tired of studying about God, but want to Know the Truth? he is standing at the door knocking waiting for you to let Him In. When You do, he will fill your emptiness. 

It is funny, because all of this bloviating on my part here is just to get you to approach Him as a little child, instead of trusting in your own intellectual virility. He is the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE... 

God Bless.