Profound Personal Impact
The book Agape is having a profound personal impact upon my life. I feel the loving tender presence of my Saviour drawing me to our Father. At the same time the darkness and hypocrisy residing at the heart of my current religious experience is being magnified like never before. The narrow gate that few find; Mat 7:14, is standing before me and I see the tears of my Lord and hear His still small voice beckoning, come unto me.
Exo 20:13: "You shall not kill."
John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee....
John 14:9: "Jesus said to him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet have you not known me,?......... he that has seen me has seen the Father;......
"Rev 14:1:".... a Lamb......an hundred forty and four thousand,... his Father's name written in their foreheads."
Here are a few segments from the book that will challenge every honest seeker of truth.
John Penman. Australia
" The religious leaders of Israel had a crisis. Their sins were being exposed and they needed to divert the attention of the people to the “unlawful” practices of Christ; therefore they presented Him as being at war with Moses and thus a sinner worthy of death. Christ made an atonement for them in their minds, not in the sense of the gospel, but through a spirit of jealousy and revenge that was satisfied by their crafty dealing through the pliable Pilate. Their attributes of anger and hatred towards Christ were self-sanctified by projecting them onto God and presenting Him as smitten of God and afflicted."
" When Christians rise up in apparent righteous indignation, proclaiming to the world that God is going to wipe out the rebellion of sinful people in triumphant tones of supposed “holy anger,” there is the very real probability that this form of personal atonement will be similar to that of Caiaphas. It finds self-righteousness through the self-satisfaction of seeing others less worthy than themselves being tortured and put to death. In the case of Christ this atonement for the Jewish leaders was directed at a righteous man. It was a similar case to that of Cain and Abel. Abel troubled the conscience of Cain and his appeals to Cain made Cain feel sinful. In order to find personal atonement Cain sacrificed his brother and put him to death. In the case of Christ the Jewish leaders silenced the voice of Him who troubled their conscience, as well as putting to death the two thieves whom they perceived less worthy than themselves."
" Many Christians can find a false atonement in the satisfaction of knowing that robbers, thieves, and all immoral people will be burned in hell while they go merrily to heaven. They may also use this carnal logic to silence the voice of conscience in the righteous life of another believer. The concept of atonement is muddled between Christ ostensibly taking their guilt and those deemed wicked receiving the punishment we deem them worthy of. The strange fire of this gospel can only superficially calm the troubled conscience of its sins."
" The person who is obedient to the Word of God and led by the Spirit will discern the spiritual meaning of the words of Jesus while the person in the flesh will apparently have his own ideas confirmed.......... The first work of the gospel is to convict people of sin. This conviction of sin often makes manifest what is hid in our hearts. Luke 8:17, Mark 4:22, Luke 12:2. This is the purpose of the divine mirror of the law, for we all have sin that we are unconscious of, don’t accept, repress, or don’t understand the full significance of. The revelation of sin in the minds of men requires the fullest efforts of the Wisdom of God. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: John 16:8 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (4) Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Matthew 5:3-4"
"Christ as the Word of God speaks to us in a way that discerns our thinking and desires. For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 When people use some statements of Jesus to prove that God tortures and burns people alive, in actuality it reveals what they really think about Him. When other statements are introduced to show that Christ is not violent and does not kill people, and yet He claims to be exactly like His Father, then we are placed in a position where we have to make a choice."
