Key questions arise in assessing the meaning and validity of the Gospel, which you seldom find answered in Christendom. All my websites seek to answer these and related questions, because the post-salvation life requires understanding them as well. Yet the following eight answers here, might best speed your own analysis.
See, sin is of the opposite nature, to God. Sin is a NATURE, and it's GENETIC, which is why no two people are tempted in exactly the same ways; sin is not merely a thought or action which is harmful. Note that: harmful, ergo called "sin". But the sin nature, being opposed to God, LIKES what's harmful to it. Sin created an ADDICTIVE desire for itself; so we naturally want sin, human good and evil, instead of God. Every human has this strong urge to call himself "good". [Self-blame is actually first; the counterurge of calling self good is to mask the self-blame. Sin is first and foremost an inferiority complex.] That's the quintessential proof of sin's nature: you wouldn't have an urge to call yourself good, if it were already true; since, if it were already true, the urge would be satisfied, so there'd be no urge! Lying, divorced from reality, is the sin nature: Lady MacBeth's "damned spot". So actual sin is just volition GIVING IN to that relentless, Energizer-Bunny-banging urge. Romans 7 and 8 cover the interplay in detail. Truly a dread genetic disease we were all born with, in Adam (Rom5:12, 1Cor15:22).
Hence the need for disasters and catastrophes, to OPEN or stent (preserve an opening in), the atrophying soul. It has NO defense against the body, apart from believing in the Gospel; and even after salvation, the soul still has no defense unless the person lives in God's System (more on that follows in #3, below). For, the derivative power of rejecting God shatters a soul: it's a spiritual ATOM BOMB, see. Since sin is a rejection of God whether one knows that or not, you can see why God's Love is so vast; why He is so keen on rescuing us -- even to the point of allowing or even sending, disaster. Surgery, to save us! Now you know why hell exists and why it lasts forever: God never gives up.
Hell will be mostly populated with moral people, for it's natural to be moral; so most people in either heaven or hell were moral, down here. Morality is a great thing, a dessert. However, people treat it instead as a desert, so dry out their graceless souls (Num11:6). So morality is a blessing, so long as one doesn't use it to garner anything from anyone. Especially, from God. Morality becomes the grossest immorality when it tries to use its 'goodness' to GET something. Since God invented morality, when the moral uses morality to get something, he literally spits on God's gift of morality, in effect saying it wasn't enough; so someone (i.e., God Himself, lol) "owes" him for his good deeds. Cain did just that, in Gen4. Even Hitler was less evil, than the moralist who uses his good deeds to get something from man or God. See Romans 2-4.
On another level, it's a legal issue because God is Infinitely Righteous, and has lost 'something valuable' He made, namely us (He made each of us at birth via creating our souls individually at that point). Therefore, He must be paid for the damage, so He can RESTORE what was lost to Him. It doesn't matter that He's able to do this without being paid. If someone disables you or your loved one or your property, you should get compensated for that, irrespective of how rich you are.
So notice how Christ's Payment is like insurance proceeds: we messed up, He pays the bill. Doesn't matter, that He paid Someone (God the Father) Who didn't need the money; beloved property belonging TO that Someone (us), was damaged. So, juridical payment for the damage, is due; is paid; is spent ON us, beginning that first nanosecond we first believe in Christ. And since we are damaged goods due to sin, we can't ourselves even repay a farthing. Even our righteousnesses are like filthy rags (Isa64:6, Zech3, and "filthy" is a euphemism).
Notice how the rescue/salvation issue is not about people's behavior, race, sex, religion, culture, politics, or any other human-human question. Those things are all completely irrelevant, since the medical and legal issue is about God and mankind, not about mankind-mankind. LordvSatan2.htm, Part II of the "Thinking" series of websites, examines this structural problem in greatest detail: see the "In the beginning.. Man" section of that page.
Any heir, especially a royal one, can ELECT AGAINST the inheritance provided for him, since this inheritance was provided apart from your consent. So, another "voting" aspect of believing Christ paid for all your sins, is that you vote to get the Inheritance God provided for you, before you were even born.
You don't have to know this is ALSO what your vote means, to be saved. It's just part of what it does mean. Few who've ever believed in Christ know anything about this inheritance, even though the Bible is pretty plain about it from Genesis to Revelation (i.e., Hebrew word for "seven", as in the Day God Rested, is a keyword about this inheritance, and is a central theme in the Greek of the Book of Hebrews).
So think carefully about whether you want to even once believe in Him, if you haven't done so already: #3 just below, gives you disclosure on what Inheritance you'd also turn down. So if you never once believe in Christ during your life down here, you not only forfeit the royal inheritance God has reserved in escrow personally for you (no one else ever gets yours); but you choose instead the 'inheritance' of hell.
By contrast, if you already have once believed in Him (and you might not remember, for it's easier to believe while young), then you're 'stuck' being an heir; you'll happily live with God forever, no matter what. So you have an inheritance to learn or not learn while down here, as you choose.
Therefore, being a believer (aka "saved") now, you must get a good bit of that inheritance NOW, while still in this body -- for you must VOTE on how much of this inheritance, you WANT in eternity. Again, for Love never coerces. Also, because you need to get it, to learn how to ENJOY it. Like anything else, wealth is something you must have and practice on, in order to learn how to enjoy it. You didn't enjoy learning math or your ABCs until you trained in them. Now, they are second nature to you, and you enjoy them very much. Same for whatever is your 'job' or hobby. Yet it's a VERY tough thing, to learn to enjoy wealth -- because everyone's after wealth, and almost no one knows how to use it. That's why there are so very few wealthy people. That's why it doesn't matter what denomination you are, or even whether you consider yourself 'Christian'. If you believed in Christ, the only way to GET corrected on the doctrinal wealth, is to first GET it, and then LEARN it, by living the spiritual life in God's System. True for anyone.
So: the only way you can screw up and get punished in the Christian life, is to NOT use your inheritance while down here. So if you don't think you're saved, you'll end up not using the inheritance you actually have, because you're too busy "crucifying the Son afresh", Heb6:6. That passage in context is partly about believers who don't realize that Christ FINISHED all payment on the Cross, so they are trying to 'help' by their works. Very sad thing (passage began in Heb5:11 and ends Heb6:13). So pretty much all Catholics of any stripe, most ecumenical religion, and any of the so-called "protties" or "independents" who think you must do something besides believe to be saved (or think you can lose your salvation), are not using their inheritance -- or, not even saved, who knows. Huge tragedy, that. Lots of Divine Discipline happens therefore (typically the life suddenly turns very bad, for no apparent reason). God always uses Discipline to beg the question, to get the believer to question his premises, to LOOK UP at God -- and get into God's System. All punishment is designed to bless, 2Pet3:9.
God is very serious about getting and using wealth; not at all the wimpy charity thing. God makes JOBS from His money, not gimme programs. So if you don't learn and use your vast assets given you the nanosecond you first believed in Christ, you will be punished all your life -- until, you wake up and get in God's System (more follows, below).
So the inheritance is in three "tiers". You can't lose the first two tiers even if you reject them, though you will mightily regret not using them. These tiers are covered in more detail below. Here we'll just introduce them. They are:
So it's this third tier which you can lose if you reject it. In fact, during your life down here you will turn it down many times, only to later revoke your rejection via usage of 1Jn1:9. See, the inheritance is so big, you have to learn it and learn how to enjoy it, gradually. This inheritance is shocking; so you'll change your mind back and forth a lot as you learn. Details about its structure are covered in all my websites, most exhaustively in the "Thinking" series (well over 1500 printed pages, by now).
So, this inheritance is a big deal, and requires lots of learning and training: Bible likens both to a Royal Heir learning how to take over a kingdom, to the Olympic games (especially a marathon footrace), to being a professional (doctor, lawyer, etc. Human ability is totally rejected, so it doesn't matter how smart or dumb you are. You are Royal now in CHRIST; just as He rejected His Own Divine and Human Power to help Himself or us (i.e., Matt4), so also you are now Spiritual Royalty, and your human abilities or flaws 'just come along for the ride', so to speak (2Cor5).
More specifically, the third tier is an ironic version of a Crown Prince inheritance, in escrow: you are awarded an ETERNAL KINGDOM just before death if you complete the training, see 2Tim4:8. So it takes a LONG time to learn and decide if you want it all. For, Crown Princes can abdicate inheriting a kingdom. Most Christians (99+%) abdicate, historically; of course, they still remain royal after that, but are IN a kingdom, rather than inheriting one. So will be ruled by one who did not abdicate. That's why Paul (and other NT writers) kept on stressing the need to persevere "to the end" (literal Greek, to completion of your spiritual development), and warning about who will not "inherit the kingdom", "inherit the promise", etc. They're NOT talking about salvation, but about this C tier.
For Royalty is not the same, as Ruling. Do not mistake this for the oooh-aah idea of ruling which titillates the masses with all its pomp and power. True Ruling is very difficult, totally sacrificial, for the Ruler lives to serve the ruled, not show how great he is; so the training enables you to enjoy the sacrifice of it so much, you'd never be happy in any other capacity: kinda like being a parent of many children you dearly LOVE. So, it will take a lifetime of training. "Training" means "bring every thought into captivity" (a Bible verse, one among thousands of same meaning); so this is not some peasanty, hustle-and-bustle-around-church thingy. Royalty Thinks. So, must be Trained How To Think. Here, trained to think like Christ. So obviously, human power is irrelevant, and the Spirit's Power is used. So obviously, it takes a lifetime down here, to train.
When a ruler abdicates, he is choosing for his kingdom to go to another. No one can take it from him. Only he can refuse. So on the one hand, what's escrowed for you can go to no one else, has only your name on it -- on the other hand, if you abdicate, it HAS to go to someone else by YOUR choice. Just like dying "intestate" (look up the word in a law dictionary). So long as you are in this body, you can keep undoing your abdication by using 1Jn1:9 and getting in God's System. The moment you die, you can no longer undo your choices.
Accordingly, you permanently and irrevocably got Parts A and B of your inheritance that first nanosecond you believed in Christ; adjunctively, these two tiers form a training environment for you down here. You won't feel this initial "deposit" (Bible term -- also, "sealing"). TIER C, the Crown Inherited, is different: it is conditioned on TIER B, your function in God's System. These three parts are elaborated on in all websites; a short synopsis of their nature, follows next.
TIER A Absolute, de minimis assets. These are eternal salvation, eternal protection, eternal provision of bodily needs; Royal priest for Father, right to learn how to become a King while down here; and much much more. You get all this immediately, that first second you believed, and it functions immediately-and-forever, too. So when you're in a jam, and you suddenly find yourself protected, provided for -- this A tier is why. You Are Royal, and Rank Has Its Privileges. This TIER A is far bigger in meaning than a mere Royal Gospel Brief can convey. Think of it as worth a bizillion dollars, to get a glimmer of an idea as to its real (far bigger) value. Principle: all material things depend on the IMmaterial things. So if you get "every spiritual blessing" (Eph1), you get all the material ones, too -- as you are trained enough to enjoy them. Underlying Principle: GOD does the giving, never man.
As a result, sometimes you will be so awash in material wellbeing, you'll not know what to do with it. Sometimes, you'll be hanging by your financial fingernails, not sure if you'll get your next meal. But the biggest category of assets, are spiritual. Sometimes you'll SO understand God that you'll be flattened; at other times, He will be a complete enigma to you. High and low: Omniscience is both, so your training and logistical provision will vary from high to low, to round you out in your SOUL. So don't expect a million dollars to suddenly drop from the sky -- but it might. So: always ask God what LESSON your situation conveys. Then apply whatever Bible you know (Tier B) to it. All assets are provided as training aids. Always.
Look: Christ is God-Man. So He had to get used to having ALL POWER; He was to subordinate the power to Love, and not be awed by it. Even on the sitcom "Bewitched", you see that having huge power causes as much trouble as it solves. So one must learn how to use it. Withhold it. Do nothing. So one needs both highs and lows, not only for purposes of learning the 'stretch' to have better appreciation of/ rapport with Omniscient God Who knows all the bad. One also needs these highs and lows to learn how to be bigger. Odd thing about wealth, the more you have, the harder it is to spend. You end up realizing that the best way to use it, is to NOT use it. Less is more.
TIER B BIBLE: Royal Learning Assets, "God's System". It's an entire learning system, replete with Teacher, Book, Time and Logistical supplies so you can keep on learning. So a lot of your financial wellbeing depends on your being in this System. The Teacher is the Holy Spirit, but He gifts to you a human teacher as well, because soul-to-soul compatibilities aid learning. It's not a denominational issue, so you can be in any denomination; the right teacher for you might be in the same or in some other (or no) denomination. Basically, being in God's System means you are regularly (i.e., daily) studying Bible under a pastor God chooses specifically for you (God matches individuals, Eph4:16, in Greek). The spiritual life is only learning and living on Bible you learn. It is not at all what you do, but What You Think Before Father.
See, Christ in His Humanity is also Seated as King; "kata Melchizedek", a Priest-King over all creation, forever. So, you are in training to learn to become a King under Him. Again, Kingship is a Thinking Role; so, Christ's payment on the Cross was Thinking (covered in #5, below); so, that thinking is supposed to GET IN YOUR HEAD, so you can become a head of a kingdom: it's the main theme of 1Cor, esp Chap13 in the God-breathed Greek (English is terribly mangled). This is the biggest topic in all my websites, and is most thoroughly covered in LordvSatan3.htm, which runs maybe 140 printed pages (in smallest View size).
History is thus exclusively determined by how Christians think, not by any other factor. This is also true partly because history as we know it, should have ended 70AD (when the Millenium was supposed to begin), so there is NO other mechanism (i.e., prophecy) justifying the continuation of life except the development of the "Bride", aka "Body of Christ"; this development will be used to justify rescuing the promised future Israel essentially rejected when Christ was down here. That's why there really is a "Rapture" (term originates from the Latin "rapto"=snatched up, variation of Vulgate translation for 1Thess4:17). Doctrine of the Rapture is very long and widely referenced in the NT. Took four years just to write up the main parameters. Rapture is a bridge to rescue Israel's covenants, essentially. It's really not like the popular junk you hear in Christian TV and movies, though it is unpredictable, it DOES occur without warning, it IS the next thing to happen, historically, and yes all believers will suddenly disappear all on the same day. On that day, the Tribulation -- promised since Daniel 9:27 TO ISRAEL -- begins.
See, the Jews were given unconditional and conditional covenants. The only conditional covenant, was the Bridal Role, which was a future eternal rulership; but to get that, they'd have to vote for Messiah when He came. To this end, God TOLD THE JEWS WHEN Messiah would be born and die. Proof that He came and LEFT would be that the 2nd Temple would be razed. So you can look at the Wailing Wall, and see that Messiah has already come and left, even today. But back then, He hadn't yet come. But they would know WHEN. So they could prepare. But instead, they rejected Messiah, kinda like Vashti refusing to come when called. So we Church (which of course still includes any Jew who believes in Christ) are "grafted in"; but ONLY because there was still a promise [of that Bridal Contract], remaining OPEN (Heb4, main theme of book, see also Rom9, 11). So the promise TO ISRAEL (not Church) of the Tribulation and Millenium, suddenly had no Bridal Bridge, but only the Groom. So, now "Esther" is sought among both Jews and Gentiles (theme of Matt16:18, and Matt22); those who believe, become "Church", aka "Body"; and then when IN AGGREGATE all the Church believers are completed in spiritual development as far as they are willing to go.. the Church becomes "Bride". Rapture is the day that happens, and since obviously spiritual development depends on how you VOTE to get in and stay in God's System, no one can predict when that date will occur. So "apart from us, they [OT folks, including Israel] will not be completed" (Heb11:39-40). So Part IV (LvS4a.htm, LvS4b.htm) goes into excruciating detail on that topic. My pastor has taught this fact for about 50 years; it's not hard to see it in Bible's original-language texts. Why almost no one in Christendom understands this our vital role, baffles me no end.
Since A is worth a bizillion dollars, B is worth its exponent, and in fact B exponentially increases atop itself. The actual investment formula's exponent is something like "ab"; where "bv", is also the value of the assets themselves (so bv is both the capital acted on by the exponent, and part of the exponent itself). This amounts to a dynamic rate of return on assets which itself nears infinity, and for good reason: the yield is permanent. As in, Forever.
Hence there's no such thing as luck or chance in the Christian life. Everything happens for a training/ learning reason. So, if like most believers you're not in "God's System" (i.e., no one in the "Christian right" is in God's System) -- you will be severely spanked, to alert you to that problem. Everyone gets spanked a lot, since we are Royal. Spanking a Royal is the opposite of spanking a child: the Royal's spanking is often insidious, not particularly public but greatly hurts the periphery; and by the time you wake up to your rebellion, it's almost too late. Rank also has its responsibilities, see. Back in olden times, when a royal misbehaved, his 'punishment' was to watch another child or animal be given a severe whipping. This instilled in the rebelling royal a recognition that every time he misbehaved, SOMEONE ELSE got hurt. Very effective way to teach honor.
So you need to train in B your whole life, to become ABLE to have C; for, it's not good to have such enormous wealth until you know how to handle it. Because, Rulership is a burden you have to learn to LOVE above all else, or it's not worth having. Owning is fulfilling once you know how to own, and enjoy owning. Training for owning so much is not easy, but nothing is more fulfilling. This is training in Thinking Like Christ. It's not something you 'do'. (Body is never spiritual, just comes along for the ride, so to speak.)
There's nothing whatsoever 'religious' about this love or glorification. You glory in what you love, so you glorify it by thinking about it all the time, trying to get more time to spend on it, etc. Obviously, if "what" is "who", then you are keen on thinking about that person all the time and spending more and more time with that person. You'll talk about that person to anyone who'll listen, too. Love is like that. Glory is like that. Glorifying is like that. Not, wimpy religion with its fake love, fake majesty, evil self-righteousness. God 'hates' religion, and as you learn Him you will also.
Of course, it should go without saying that likemindness is God's goal, in establishing this TIER C. In other words, the more you grow in it, the more you think like Christ, so you will be closer to Christ forever, versus those who abdicated. Royalty has ranking. Ruler rankings are the highest. So, the closest to the King of Kings, Christ Himself. Meaning, more time spent close by Him. The self-righteous peasanty-Royal who knew his own huffing and puffing vegetable-Cain-works down here, will be lucky to see the King of Kings once in a million years. For, he abdicated from his inheritance, which is an even worse rejection of Christ than being an unbeliever: claiming the Name, but rejecting learning the thinking of the Person. A lot of religious people will be on the equivalent of Pluto, forever. Saved and immeasurably happy, but.. oh so far away.
It's impossible to be more arrogant, than to spurn wealth. All that fake piety and badmouthing of wealth just spits in God's Face. God is the Most Wealthy Person In the Universe. Get used to it, or get punished. Wealth is not about hey-look-at-me. Insecure people latch onto anything to feel better about themselves. Wealth is instead, a tool of HONOR for FATHER. And were you born in a wealthy household, you were weaned on that principle. It's very hard to live with. You are not your own. You have a legacy and a heritage to live up to: His.
So C, depends on B. Do you want the Rulership portion of C? That's God's will for every Christian, but every Christian has the right to reject it. You reject it, by NOT using B. Wow: that's a big personal decision, and you need a lot of disclosure and learning from B, to make up your mind. Of course, if you DO want it, then you need a lot of disclosure and learning in B, to train for it. All the learning and training is only done TO you BY God the Holy Spirit, and only in God's System. Human power, as always, is too "short" (Rom3:23b, so there are no substitute systems, even as there is no substitute salvation).
Since your inheritance is infinitely tailored to you personally via God's Unique Sense of Humor, the three tiers of your inheritance can only be described here in generic terms. God will personally reveal to you over time what the specifics for you ARE, since you'll have to vote on them (God never coerces). Count on the most exquisite matching to every facet of your life and personality, no matter how small, how gross, how elegant. God's Thinking is pricelessly witty. No end of enjoyment seeing His Will.
BTW: God did this same 'trash' thing to me with respect to many other objects (well over 100 of them), usually on the day after I thought about wanting to buy something and decided not to do so; or, more commonly, the day after I realized I needed something (whether a small appliance, bookcase, TV or couch!) -- it would be there, clean and separated! Hence it was impossible not to know God the Son (Who handles believer physicalities) picked a janitor of the same name (hint hint) to answer my 'secret' decision against doing these websites.
So your inheritance is thus entirely TAILORED to YOU. Stuff you never told anyone you wanted or hated, God shows HE heard you.. and answers, baby. The fellowship with Him is incredible, way beyond puny emotion or lala fake supernaturality people pant after. Cuz see: when you believed in Christ, you MARRIED Him. For Better, and for Worse. So -- oh, this is rich -- God makes the Worse, better than the "Better"! And takes you through it all, since clearly human power is totally inadequate for such a journey!
So now that you are a believer, only what suits that new NATURE, will fulfill you. Your old nature still bangs on the door of your soul, divorced (main and very witty theme in Romans 5-9). Because, the sin nature is GENETIC and you're still rattling around in this old body. But the real nature has to be FILLED UP -- His Thinking, theme of Romans 8, 2Cor5 -- and nothing else will suffice. All the world's goodies, are no longer good enough for you. Ergo, you need Tiers ABC to learn your ABCs and stop being a spiritual baby. And baby, once you do, nothing else will even begin to be attractive. All links on the Home Page elaborate on this structure, as well as on how You Change In Nature the very nanosecond you first believed in Christ; as well as, what you inherit in Him, now that your nature is changed so that you CAN live forever with God. The treasure is personal, not at all related to works or being good, and the wealth and wit of life in Him is utterly phenomenal. All the kingdoms of the world are but dross, by comparison!
That's why, for example, "atonement" for sin was depicted by sacrificing an animal (i.e., beginning in Gen3); the sacrifice was a CONTRACTURAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT that the future Christ (depicted by the animal's sacrifice), would PAY for that sin. Over time, the meanings depicted in the rituals, were codified in writing; for example, in the original languages of Bible, Isaiah Chapters 53-55 explain in exacting detail, how He'd pay for sins, what would thus happen to Him and to us, as a result. "Christ" in Greek (i.e., in Daniel 9:25, LXX) = "Messiah" in English (haMashiach, in Bible's Hebrew). Means "Anointed One" (referencing His Kingship , á la Ps110:1), "Savior" (representing His High Priesthood), and similar meanings. "YHWH" references His (then-future) God-man nature (depicted by the gold and wood materials of the Mercy Seat in the Holy of Holies, in Moses' day).
Again, Israel was supposed to be the "Bride", when the Groom (Christ) came to pick 'her' up (1st Advent, in modern theological lingo). So at that point, what we ended up getting as Church, was initially SUPPOSED to go to Israel. But she refused the Groom. That's like the Book of Esther (Christ makes deliberate analogy to the Book of Esther from Matt16:18 through Matt24). So Church takes on an Esther role while down here, and in the Millennium will be in charge of the Gentile nations. In eternity, Church is Bride. So see the continuity and the contingency? Salvation is always the same, the plan was always the same, but when one REJECTS an inheritance, it MUST go to someone else. We Church are only here due to Israel's rejection. We owe Israel much. And God will make sure that His Promises to Her will be fulfilled -- but this last Brideship promise, was to be the conduit for all the other (unconditional) ones to be relayed. So that's why Church has to be finished, before the Trib and all the other OT promises (i.e., Millennium) will play out (Heb11:39-40, in context of the whole book).
There was much more to write about once He did add Humanity to Himself and via that Humanity pay; since via the Cross He bought also a ROYAL LEGACY for us (Eph5, all of Hebrews); so, when all the "New Testament" (term's in Hebrews) was completed, no more ritual (etc.) was needed. As Paul puts it in Galatians 3, the Law was like a school monitor (not 'schoolmaster'), pending the real Adult Training in Son's Thinking. So we have the Bible, now (called "Love" in 1Cor13, cleverly playing off "Head", a wordplay theme running throughout 1Cor you can't see in translation). Being saved, we can now learn it; by understanding and believing in what it says (never works), we can thus learn to enjoy our inheritance in Him. Additionally, the Bible's few "do" commandments, teach and refresh you; since although the body is dying biology so not spiritual, the "do" commands give it a role compatible with what IS spiritual. Even suffering is made profitable, in God's Inheritance Plan. See? It's always about believing-in, never about sin, merit, or human anything. So no one is ever excluded. Morality is supposed to be refreshing, not repressing. Morality is never spiritual. Compatible with spiritual when 1Jn1:9 used and you're living in God's System. Else, morality is the jewel in Satan's Crown. Click on the "STOP OMEGA" link (table) in LvS4c.htm if you want a brief on how Satan uses morality.
Here's how it worked: technically, Christ did not use His Own Deity's Ability to pay for sins (since Deity didn't sin, our humanity did); instead, in His Humanity He learned Bible as it was then revealed, via the Holy Spirit teaching Him through whomever was his own right pastor (rabbi/teacher, in those days); then, WITH that Bible in His Head, He relied on the Holy Spirit's Infinite Power to deposit and CYCLE Infinite Truth Learned into His human soul's thinking. And then, while on the Cross, He relied on that Same Power to keep on thinking that Truth. The Infinite quality of that Truth cycling, paid for all the sins and the judgement on them: which at the same time, were "lacerating" His soul (term is in Isaiah53, means javelin-piercings).
The THOUGHT of being rich drives people. The THOUGHT of being loved/admired, drives people. The THOUGHT you hear in someone else, drives you to react favorably or unfavorably. Thought has more power than an atom bomb. How much more, then, God's Thought would be pleasing to hear? Far outweighing the ugliness of sin thinking? Look how your THOUGHT changes when you read the next two sentences. The bum lay in the gutter, reeking of sour wine. Yet when his glazed eyes saw two hoods start to rape a girl nearby, he arose and chased them off. See how the second sentence, 'paid' for the first one? Had the bum not BEEN there reeking, the girl would have been raped. So if we had not sinned, there'd have been no COUNTER THINKING to do. Paul makes so much of this counter value in Romans 5 (stressing Tier C in Rom5:17,21), he has to begin Romans 6 by saying, "What, should we keep sinning, that Grace may abound?" No wonder.
His Thinking Value 'buys' you the very Righteousness of God, since His Thoughts about you while He was on the Cross, were Infinitely-Righteous Truth. All of 2Cor5 and Romans 5-8, center on this fact, and Bible repeats the fact in hundreds of ways, throughout the original-language texts. So, that first second you believed in Him, you became a spiritual being (Tit3:5, 2Cor5:17); you became AS RIGHTEOUS AS GOD HIMSELF (2Cor5:21); and you have God's Own Life (John 3, translation should say Eternal life, not "everlasting" life). So now you are Compatible In Nature with God; that's why you are forever saved. Can't lose a life which isn't created: namely, God's Own Life.
And you can quickly understand how this EXCHANGE works: a thought which hurts you can be 'answered' by a thought which 'parries' or 'defeats' the hurtful thought; notice how you need TRUTH to answer the hurtful thought, so you will be SATISFIED ("propitiation", in Bible) despite the hurt. We all have them.
It becomes harder to see how our puny thoughts, all of which are sin-tainted (sin nature is in the body, so really taints every thought), are egregiously ugly to hear. So need satisfying counter thoughts, as we need our own, to even get up in the morning. It's egregiously ugly for God to hear someone be self-righteous, self-important, irritated, judging, maligning, stealing, jealous, greedy, oh-how-i-deserve, look-how-good-i-am, fornicating, taking drugs, crusading, lying, thinking what he does God should reward. In essence, we spend our lives demanding our own rights, but.. what about, God's? He's the one who made us, y'know...
This list of billions upon billions of yucky thoughts we humans are constantly thinking, goes on and on. Worst of all, we treat God like a dog, as if He's supposed to go fetch for us all the goodies of this life we want, and He's supposed to be satisfied if we give money, do some good deed, go to mosque/ synagogue/ church on Friday/ Saturday/ Sunday, read a Koranic/ Tanakh/ Bible verse? If you were God: wouldn't you find all that disgusting? So how do you get paid? Well, thoughts are what's disgusting, so COUNTER Thoughts must be the proper 'currency'. Body's not to blame, it's a mindless thing. Takes a mind, takes volition, to sin.
For, now every hurtful thought is in ASSOCIATION with a (then-new) thought which is beautiful, healing. So makes for a wonderful experience, rather than a lacerating one. So when you sin in time, the PAST PAYMENT ON that thought, is associated with the sin you're currently committing; that's why you are allowed to sin, to even breathe. Therefore, Bible frequently calls His Payment a "wonderful aroma" ("sweet savor" in KJV). You and I don't smell good when we are sinning. Christ, however, smells so wonderful, you and I now do as well. So, we are still breathing. For, God has First Rights. Like it or lump it.
Hence the JUSTICE of the imputation and judgement of sins, was structurally unimpeachable (three Independent Persons, three independent justice functions). So Holy God (Father) could rightly accept the Thinking-Truth Payment from Christ. Bible legal terms for God's acceptance are "Atonement" and "Propitiation".
Search the Bible all you like, and you never find a verse saying God forces anyone to STAY in hell. Only, that they go there. You also don't find a verse anywhere of anyone believing in Christ AFTER they go there. Most Christians have a certain glee about saying people are LOCKED in hell -- usually people they don't like -- but Bible doesn't say that. So if God is NEVER WILLING that anyone should perish (caps are corrected translation of 2Pet3:9) -- then Hell (and the later Lake of Fire) must be functioning as a last-ditch Gospel warning. Forever. So people stay there because they refuse the Gospel, even as they go there in the first place because they refuse to believe. Believe or burn. Stark, simple, and.. since GOD is never willing, the people who stay in Hell/Lake of Fire, must be the ones willing. See what damage sin does? You come to either love God, or love your own self-righteous fantasy of martyrdom, like Satan does. Scary.
Life down here is a little foretaste of hell, too: look how hellish we humans treat each other, huh? Always preening, pandering, pawning, politicking; treating God like a dog, expecting Him to go fetch for us just because we tinkled a few coins in some charity tin at an intersection; because we chant or twirl around some noisy prayer wheel; because we fast or gorge or wear our hair long/short bathe/don't bathe; because we nod at Him on Friday or Saturday or Sunday; because we stopped eating meat or pork; yeah, what does Holy God, need with all that? And He's supposed to be GRATEFUL? Puleese. The hypocrisy is endless, and endlessly disgusting: all anyone really cares about, is his own self-opinion. We're sick!
So again, God would be sinning Himself, not to give people what they want -- and if they don't want grace salvation (believe-only, can't be more free), then they want HELL. Ergo a lifetime's worth of disclosure, prior to death, "for He is NEVER WILLING that any should perish", 2Pet3:9.
Being saved does not mean you think like God does; to learn your inheritance, requires you learn to think as God does, as Christ did: Romans 8, Eph3:15-19, Eph4:12-16, many other passages. For, like Christ you are to learn to become a KING-Priest: that is God's Will for your life, just as it was for Christ, and He Legated to us a Ruling Inheritance. (See Rev1:6, 5:10, 1Pet2:5,9, 1Cor4:8 (sarcastic, all of Hebrews and Ephesians, "inherit the Kingdom", "endure" verses, many other passages.) So you need to breathe 1Jn1:9 as part of being in God's System.
Again, just as with salvation, the question is whether you want to elect against His Will while you still breathe down here. His Will, is to give you your full inheritance, not just the de minimis A level of being forever saved (Eph1); but, you can still reject B and C. So 1Jn1:9 is an admission, kinda like salvation is an admission, that what God elects, is right. So, you want 'back into the relationship' functionally, to keep on learning. Just as, when you have a dispute with family member: can't ever stop being family, but still you have to reconcile to go back to a functioning relationship; so too, here.
God never coerces. Yes, you are saved forever; but to sin in time, though completely paid for, still means you don't want a functioning relationship. So, you aren't: your spiritual life is comatose until you name whatever sin you remember, to God. Then, He purifies you from all the other interim wrongs, too (which you don't yet understand or remember). (1Jn1:9 in translation is often wrong; "cleanses" should be "purifies"; Greek is a Temple-sanctifying word, katharizw.) So the functional relationship resumes, and so can the learning. Clearly, then, you'd want to breathe 1Jn1:9 all the time, lest your spiritual life go "off". For, there is a lot to learn. Takes a lifetime.
To never believe Christ's Payment for your sins saves you, is a rejection; and instead, an acceptance of something else to justify a relationship with God. 'Fallen' angels (aka devils, demons) reject what God accepts, and want to substitute something else. Well, God doesn't accept anything else, because if God Himself ever sinned, a DEATH occurs; hence, a barrier BIGGER than the resultant (post-sin) self, is created. So, the being sinning is now too CORRUPT to undo the damage by any substitute works, etc. So, the damage must be removed by someone bigger than self. Hence the Cross Payment works as explained above (in #5).
So to reject what would be true even if God had done it (sin's irremedial consequences), is to prefer a lie. To prefer the lie is to prefer death and hell, since that's what lies buy. God didn't make the Truth; Truth is uncreated, even as God is uncreated, so Truth is an 'Attribute' (so to speak) of God Himself; so He'd be committing suicide, if He sinned, and there'd be no remedy. Since we are not God, He can remedy our spiritual suicide. So to reject what God accepts, is to reject the truth, and that can only mean to elect hell forever. It's a property of life, this relationship between lies and hell; not, some petty person's imposition. For if God Himself were to ever sin, He Himself would be a living hell inside Himself. So again, it's just how the Truth, is: not some tyrannical imposition. [Nerd note: God is Infinite, but is Total Free Will. So He is also Omnipotent, meaning He CAN sin. But, never will. If there was ever a logical point in time where God would sin, He'd be corrupt already, since God is timeless by nature (a property of Infinity is timelessness).]
People really WANT the 'bad'. Especially, the bad of religion. Every criminal ever born practices his criminality because it makes him feel good. He becomes so hooked on that feeling, that he becomes even self-righteous about it. He steals from people who "deserve it." He murders people who "deserve it." Those are RELIGIOUS motives, and religion was the first temptation, if you eat this magic fruit, lol you will be just as good as God. Religion still buys that same Genesis 3 temptation. So do criminals. The pea isn't under any walnut shell, the result of giving in is always frustration -- but hey, if sure feels good to give in! Rejecting God's offer of salvation is the most criminal thing one can do. So it's the most addicting, as well. So one comes to love the feeling of rejecting Him so much, even Hell is heavenly. Oh, the martyrdom of the rich guy in Luke 16:20ff, how he loves playing the victim!
Have you ever tried to help someone who, no matter what you suggest, they turn it down? So after some years you realize, they don't want the problem solved, they just love complaining about it! Bingo.
So people go and stay in hell because it's what THEY want. God didn't want it. God won't coerce. You always get what you want from God. So be careful to analyze what you want!
