Liberty

“Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Liberty” (II Cor. 3:17).

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Liberty is not the ability to sin, as in lying, stealing, extra-marital sex, homosexuality, and many other things which people do. This is slavery as Jesus said: “Whoever sins is the slave of sin” (John 8:34).

Liberty is the freedom to live a life pleasing to God and it breaks the power of sin in a person’s life. When people turn to Christ and repent of their sins then the Holy Spirit takes up residence in their body. This then inhibits the action of the devil and his angels around that person. When several people are saved and have the Spirit of God in them there is a wider area in which the Holy Spirit works at inhibiting the evil work of the devil and his fallen angels. This then produces liberty for the people.

As people turn away from God, the area in which the Spirit works decreases accordingly. Liberty decreases which allows increased demonic activity. The amount of liberty is directly proportional to the people’s obedience to God.

When people turn away from God it produces a loss of liberty. This is happening in the United States today. Can you see it?

For a nation to be independent and sovereign it must be dependent on the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Judge of the whole world. This requires the nation and its people to be Christian.

Shining God’s Light on the Koran – God Communicating with Man Part 1E

Sam continues his on-going series which contrasts the Judeo-Christian Bible with the Islamic Koran on a variety of topics. He aims the beam of the Biblical laser on the Koran to expose, to reveal what it really says. See his previous articles here.

God’s Verbal Interaction with Man, Part Five

Moses at Mount Sinai

According to the Koran, Allah is said to not directly communicate verbally with mankind. In the Holy Bible, however, God is said to have verbally communicated with men several times. In this article I will consider one man in particular, Moses, and the children of Israel at Mount Sinai.

THE KORANIC ACCOUNT

It is beneath the dignity of Allah to condescend to speak to a mortal with the exception of disclosing information or from behind a covering hidden from view or by dispatching a messenger who reveals with His permission what He pleases; certainly He is Exalted and exercises good judgment (Surah 42:51).

Allah made direct contact with Moses when speaking to him (Surah 4:164).

There is no comprehension of Allah’s character among those who say that Allah has never revealed anything to any mortal human (Surah 6:91).

Write of Moses in the book, he was selected to represent Allah, divinely inspired. We addressed him from the right slope of Mount Sinai. He came to Us and We communed with him (Surah 19:51,52).

Children of Israel, recall the approval and support I (Allah) have given you and raised you in status and dignity above all the other nations of the earth (Surah 2:47).

COMMENTARY ON THE KORANIC ACCOUNT

According to the Koran, Allah does not lower himself to speak directly to mere mortals. He may reveal something of new significance to someone but not usually. He will hide himself behind a sheet or send a messenger to deliver the message he wants to send people. Such as when Gabriel was sent to speak to Muhammad in order to reveal Allah’s word to him.

The Koran contradicts itself when it says that Allah does not speak openly to mortals. Then it says that Allah spoke directly to Moses. Moses was a mortal who Allah spoke to without something between them.

To speak directly to Moses Allah had to humble himself significantly for such an encounter.

Certainly direct face to face dialogue is not the only way to communicate with someone, but Allah did it with Moses. Moses was chosen by Allah to represent him.

Allah and Gabriel “We” called to Moses from the right side of Mount Sinai and spoke with him several days once Moses came up to them.

The Koran acknowledges that Israel was given by Allah a status higher than any other nation. The commentary in “The Holy Quran,” page 26, written by Maulana Muhammad Ali states that by “the nations” it is meant that this superior status was only during their time of triumph over their contemporary peoples. The implication is that it is not for today or for the future. To this I totally disagree. The only nation which will exist forever and into the new heaven and new earth will be Israel (Daniel 2:44; Isaiah 9:6,7). Islam is destined to perish from the face of the earth and all those who follow it. No matter how many believe in it, how much wealth and land they acquire, or how many people they kill. Islam loses (Revelation 20, 21, and 22)!

BIBLICAL ACCOUNT

Israel camped before Mount Sinai in the desert of Sinai. Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain (Exodus 19:1-3). The Lord told Moses to tell Israel, “you have seen what I did to Egypt and brought you to myself. Now, therefore, you will obey My voice and keep my covenant. You shall be a special treasure to Me above all people: for all the earth is mine. You shall be to Me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. Tell the children of Israel this.” Moses called the elders together and told them what God had said. The people pledged to obey the voice of the Lord and Moses told the Lord what the people said (Exodus 19:3-8). And the Lord said unto Moses, “Lo, I come unto you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and believe you for ever.” And Moses told the words of the people unto the Lord (Exodus 19:9).

It came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. And the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount; And Moses went up (Exodus 19:16-20).

The Lord said unto Moses, “Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish. Let the priests also, which come near to the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break forth upon them.” And Moses said unto the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai: for you have charged us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and set it apart.” The Lord said unto him, “Away, you get down, and you shall come up, you, and Aaron with you: but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the Lord, lest he break forth upon them.” So Moses went down unto the people, and spoke unto them (Exodus 19:21-25).

COMMENTARY ON THE BIBLICAL ACCOUNT

God called to Moses out of the mount and summoned him up to Himself. God said that Israel would be His special treasure if they were to obey His voice and keep His commands. All the earth belongs to God, and Israel would be above all other people. The people pledged to obey. God told Moses He would come down upon the mountain in a thick cloud and speak with Moses in front of the people. He said He would do this so they would believe Moses forever.

When God came down on top of the Mount Sinai there was thunder and lightning and a thick cloud. Fire ascended into heaven as from a furnace and a voice spoke as a trumpet blast. Moses brought the people of Israel out of their camp to meet with God and spoke to God. And God answered him. Moses was called up to the top of the mountain by God and he went up. A boundary was set up about the mountain so the people would not come near the mountain lest God would break out and slay them. The entire mountain quaked and the people trembled.

God not only spoke to Moses but He spoke to the people as well. God spoke to Moses in front of the people showing them that He was speaking to Moses. God did not speak to Moses in secret but He spoke to Moses openly in front of the whole congregation. Here God is verbally interacting with over three million people. There was no doubt in their mind who was talking to them. It’s imperative that we believe Moses forever just as they were to believe forever.

Jesus said if you don’t believe Moses how will you believe me (John 5:45-47). And Jesus also said if they don’t believe Moses and the prophets they won’t believe someone who was raised from the dead (Luke 16:31).

COMPARING & CONTRASTING THE KORAN WITH SCRIPTURE

In the Koran Allah and Gabriel (we) called to Moses from the side of the Mount Sinai. This is different than in the Scriptures. In Scripture God called to Moses from out of the mountain. Then He came down in a thick cloud on top of the mountain and spoke. This shows a difference between the scripture and the Koran. In the Koran it was Allah and an angel that spoke to Moses. In Scripture it is God alone that speaks to Moses. There were no angels involved. The Koran elevates the angel, or angels, whichever the case may be, to a god type status even though the angels are created beings.

In the Koran and in Scripture Moses was called to the top of the mountain by Allah and by God, respectively, and in both accounts Moses went up.

The Koran says that god made direct contact with Moses. In Scripture God not only made dialogue with Moses but did so in front of the whole congregation of Israel.

In the Koran Allah is said to have given Israel a status above every other nation, which the commentary says is to have ended. In scripture God says that Israel will be a special treasure to Him above all other peoples if they obey Him and keep His covenant. Nowhere in scripture has God ever withdrawn this special status. This is a spurious commentary on the part of the Koran by the commentator and does not agree with Scripture (Romans Ch. 11).

CONCLUSION

Which God would you prefer to serve: The one who will not humble himself to meet with mortal man, or the One who is humble enough Himself to meet with mortal man.

The Koran does not accurately convey what is written in Scripture, nor does it have the detail of scripture on a subject.

Those interpreting the Koran are not accurate to the text of the Koran with their comments. The Scriptures are not to be treated this way. “Knowing this first that no prophesy of scripture is of any private interpretation.” 2 Peter 1:20 (KJV)

REFERENCES

The Koran’s passages is a paraphrase of several English translations.
The Koran, translated by N.J. Dawood: A Penguin Classic.
The Qur’an, translated by M.H. Shakir: Tahrike Tarsile Qur’an, Inc.
The Holy Qur’an, translated by Maulana Muhammad Ali: Ahmadiyya
Anjuman Isha’at Lahore Inc. U.S.A.
The Koran, translated by Marmaduke Pickthall: Everyman’s Library.
The Holy Bible is paraphrased from the King James Version.
The Liberty Annotated Study Bible: Liberty University & Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Are Children Born Separated From God?

This post is a response to a comment made by fellow-blogger, Matt, to one of my articles of a few weeks ago.

Is it possible that children are not separated from God until they sin? Let us consider for a moment that this were true. What would the ramifications of this be? First of all children would not die. They would be immortal. There would be no infant deaths. If their body was torn apart in an abortion clinic the tissue would stay fresh and not decay. The blood would stay fresh and not decay. Secondly, they would not be totally deprived. Thirdly, they would have no knowledge of right and wrong.

The experience we have of children is that they do die. Their bodies do decay and so does their blood. They are born with a conscience and knowledge of right and wrong. They are born totally depraved.

God said in creation that the plants and the animals and the fish and the foul were to reproduce after their kind (1). In genetics once a mutation occurs in an organism that mutation is then reproduced in its offspring. Once Adam and Eve had been separated from God through their disobedience, all their offspring would then be born separated from God for they were all in Adam and Eve when they sinned. An example of this from Holy Scripture is when Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek. Since Levi was in Abraham, Levi paid tithes to Melchizedek (2). The entire human race was in Adam and so we all sinned in Adam.

The Apostle Paul writes, “Wherefore, as by one man [Adam] sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned (3).” The Apostle Paul further writes, “But the scripture hath concluded all are under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe (4).” Jesus is the only one ever born with out sin for His Father is God Who has never sinned (5). ”

If you believe that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God who received the punishment for your sins and rose from the dead; you can be saved from your sins today. Confess to God that you are a sinner and invite Jesus into your heart. A sample prayer is, “Lord Jesus Christ forgive me of my sins and come into my heart.”

References

1. Genesis 1:11,21,24,25
2. Hebrews 7:9,10
3. Romans 5:12
4. Galatians 3:22
5. John 3:16;14:30; Hebrews 4:15

Tale of Two Mountains, Brokeback & Sinai

Mount Sinai

Sometimes I feel like I am living in the Twilight Zone or at least lost in Big Brother’s world of 1984. Each day I wake up and see the world has crept a little further leftward on the broad road leading to destruction. It is the radical leftists leading the way to such anti-Americanism and anti-God in many and varied aspects of our culture including entertainment and education. They use every means and method to push for the transformation of the democratic republic of our founders to some sort of ‘democratic’ socialist state or global utopia.

On May 13 WorldNetDaily.com reported something truly obscene in an article titled, “(Homosexual) cowboy love scenes 'traumatize' schoolgirl, 12, Family sues district for $500,000 after 'Brokeback' shown in class.” You can see here at the intersection of decadent entertainment, ‘enlightened’ education and the homosexual agenda that the student is forced to be exposed and to have to endure indoctrination to this immoral, unnatural so-called alternative lifestyle, which is embraced by such a tiny minority of American citizens. However, this moneyed minority, despite their size, is on a strident crusade to justify, rationalize and ‘legalize’ their wrong behavior at all costs. The homosexual activists and their leftist accomplices and supporters such as the teachers unions, Hollywood, radical leftist politicians, lawmakers and judges are working in a concerted effort to convert America’s children into thinking, if not embracing or actually succumbing to homosexual, lesbian, transgender or bisexual behaviors themselves.

At the same time the leftist education elite and their leftist allies work night and day to mock, to minimize, to marginalize, to remove the moral code, the Ten Commandments and all of its iterations and manifestations from American culture and life. God and Jesus have become four letter words to this crowd, which is hell-bent on leading this nation and as many of its people to hell itself. Evil is now regarded as good. Evil such as abortion (the rampant killing of babies), pornography, infidelity in marriage, and even sodomy is considered acceptable behavior and commonplace. Good such as the practice of abstinence before marriage, virtue, honesty, respect for all human life, traditional one-man, one-woman marriage and moral standards of any kind are ridiculed, mocked and even considered intolerant, hateful and ‘evil’. We sure have seen America turned upside down within the last 100 years or so.

America must now rediscover and return quickly to its moral roots which were grounded in the Judeo-Christian Bible, and the laws given by Almighty God to Moses on Mount Sinai or go the way of Greece, Rome and all the great but dead nations of the past. We must reject this evil-as-good philosophy of ‘Brokeback Mountain’ which is so promoted, prevalent and pervasive in America today. Instead, we must willingly accept and obey the good-over-evil choices expected and outlined in the law and instructions for life provided by God Himself on Mount Sinai. Make A Good Choice and reject the temptation to the easier ‘Brokeback’ climb and accept the more rewarding, more challenging, ‘Sinai’ life excursion.