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Kenneth Copeland’s False Teaching of Jesus Being Born Again in Hell, and His Misunderstanding of Jesus’s Authority.

by Lisa Groen

I am writing this article to show plainly that Kenneth Copeland on his website is teaching the idea that Jesus was born again in hell, and the ridiculousness of this idea, and why this idea is a false teaching, and Copeland’s misunderstanding of Jesus’s authority.

I am basing this blog post on Kenneth Copeland’s online article entitled “What Happened From The Cross To The Throne Part 2” I will share screenshots to document the false teachings in his article. This screenshot below was taken near the heading entitled “The Finished Work”. Note the highlighted areas:

Copeland above says that Jesus went to hell and was born again there. This is absurd because being born again was something God provided as a rescue for mortal sinners who need forgiveness, that would give them new spiritual life with God. Jesus was never a sinner and he did not need to be forgiven, and he already had spiritual life with God. Jesus did not need the kind of salvation that God provided as a ransom for sinners. Jesus WAS the ransom. Jesus IS salvation. Let’s look at the next highlighted area in the screenshot below.

Copeland says Jesus is no longer called the only begotten Son of God from the book of Acts to John’s Revelation, but He’s called the Firstborn from the dead. Copelands definition of these two phrases are very different that what the Bible teaches. Copeland seems to say “Jesus was born again, and that he needed to be born again in order to be the leader of all Christians who need to be born again, so he could be the Firstborn of many brethren.” But the logic doesn’t follow. A Shepherd doesn’t have to become a sheep to lead the way for the sheep to be saved from danger. A Shepherd just leads them and is way above them in many ways, such as knowledge, common sense, ability and strength. A shepherd doesn’t have to eat grass to show his sheep how to keep from starving. Again the shepherd is way above the sheep but Jesus made the sheep to be drawn to eat when he created them. Jesus saves us not by being born-again himself, but by drawing us to believe in him and be saved. He stays way above us and doesn’t need to be born again to be the Firstborn of many brethren. Because He is GOD.

But Copeland says that the meaning of Jesus being begotten means Jesus was born again, but what it means Biblically is that there was only ONE conception like the conception of Jesus. That was when the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary and God placed physical DNA inside of Mary, the physical material that would become Jesus’s body, and God placed the Soul and Spirit of Jesus in union with his body so that he would grow up in Mary’s womb. and become the God-man, God from God, Light from Light. Because believers in Jesus are “born from the dead”, Copeland conflates this in his thinking to mean Jesus and born again people are on the same playing field. The Bible teaches believers are born-again, from a place of deadness to God, and made alive to God, but we are not “God from God, Light from Light” as Jesus was. The believer retains many of his or her personality traits and cognitive and physical abilities after he or she becomes born again as they had before they were born again. We don’t give up our personalities to become saved. We are made in the image of God, but retain many of our traits, but what is new, is that we receive the spiritual fruit of Galatians 5, and other communicable attributes of Jesus, but we are not on the same playing field as Jesus in his incommunicable attributes. We are saved from the bondage to sin, and delivered out of the kingdom of darkness, where now Jesus is our new King in the Kingdom of Light. Jesus is way HIGH above us. But Copeland is demoting Jesus and making him as common as a born again person:

and again:

He said Jesus was just a mortal man made sin. But Jesus was the God-man, not JUST a man. The phrase Jesus “was made to be sin”, many scholars believe that it is the short way of saying Jesus became the sin offering, and that Jews of Jesus’ time would shorten the phrase “the sin offering” to “sin”. So if we plug that phrase into 2 Corinthians 5:21, it would say “For our sake he made him to be (the) sin (offering) who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” ESV parentheses mine.

Copeland believes there are similarities between Jesus’s resurrection and the believer’s resurrection. The Bible does too. But Copeland makes up similarities between the believer and Jesus that don’t exist. Note the words below, “…the only difference…”:

When Copeland says “the only difference was, you got yours on this side of hell” I believe he is talking about the resurrection. The believers were raised up from spiritual death when they are born again on this side of heaven. True, but Copeland’s statement that Jesus went to the very pit of hell and “nailed it up for you. He stopped Satan’s authority over you. He stopped it by conquest” has tremendous problems. Copeland is talking about a conquest in hell between Satan and Jesus that we can safely say Copeland imagined, because it is no were in the Bible. In the Bible Jesus paid our sin debt in full on the cross, and then he said “it is finished” before he died. Jesus was awarded resurrection because the full wrath of God had been exhausted upon him and paid for. The righteous wrath of God had been poured out on Jesus and was satisfied, so, there was no punishment for Jesus left nor for those who would believe upon Him for him to have to go to the very PIT of hell. After Jesus died, he could go to paradise and lead captivity captive specifically because of the victory of the cross. This was the place of Abraham’s bosom. This was the place where the righteous saints who died before the resurrection of Jesus would go. So there was no conquest between Jesus and Satan in the PIT of hell.

The pit of hell would be a place of suffering and torment for those punished by God. God was the one who punished Jesus in our place on the cross. Jesus didn’t go as someone’s prisoner when he died, because “death could not hold him”, and Satan by that point was defeated, so he didn’t go to the pit of hell, but to Abraham’s bosom, or Sheol to lead captivity captive. And when he went and took captivity captive, he certainly wasn’t kept in the pit of hell by Satan, or by God but Jesus had full authority over himself after he died because he had full authority over himself while he lived each day of his life. He never gave Satan a foothold. Satan had no hold on him, and the very pit of Hell was only for those who live in sin and refuse to follow God. Jesus was successful in paying for our sins before he died. He said “It is finished, then breathed his last.” Copeland has nullified the power of the Cross:

The conquest Jesus won, was on the cross, by humbling himself, dying in our place, and taking our sins upon himself and bearing them away as the sinless lamb of God. There was no conquest between Jesus and Satan after he died because while he was on the earth, there was no physical conquest between Jesus and Satan on the earth. Satan also couldn’t lie to Jesus and be successful. Jesus just spoke the truth and resisted Satan. And Satan fled. When Jesus was crucified it was God’s plan to save the lost. Here is the victory Jesus had on earth in never sinning. Jesus’s authority over himself was in tact all the time and that was how he won the conquest against Satan:

John 8:46: “Which of you convicts me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?” (NKJV). 

2 Corinthians 5:21: “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (NKJV). 

1 Peter 2:22: “Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth” (NKJV). 

1 John 3:5: “And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin” (NKJV). 

Hebrews 4:15: “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (NKJV). 

In the shot above after the Colossians scripture Copeland writes that Jesus took authority over Satan and said “I am He that was once dead, but I’m now alive and I hold the keys to death, hell and the grave. All power has been given me, both in heaven and in earth.” Those are 2 scriptures from Revelation 1:18, and Matthew 28:18. But Revelation gives no proof or indication that this happened when Jesus was between the cross and the throne, nor that these scriptures were spoken one after the other, nor that Jesus spoke them to Satan. Rather, when the wrath of God was paid in full, and Jesus said it is finished, Jesus went to the place of the dead to cause several old testament saints to rise with him when he would rise from the dead. There is no evidence in the Bible that Jesus spoke to Satan between the cross and the throne. Rather, the evidence seems to point to the opposite because on the cross Jesus said “It is finished”, and these words signify that he spoiled the principalities and powers by the cross. Colossians 2:15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” The Devil was not in charge of anything anymore because the atonement was paid in full, and Jesus broke the power of death, hell, and the grave, but did this on the cross, not in hell.

Was it not the sheer righteousness Jesus offered, and shed blood and what he suffered on the cross with the full wrath of God being poured out on him in the atonement and those things together were indeed the fullness of all authority to clear the sinner of sin, when Jesus said the words “It is finished”? Those 3 words were spoken after the wrath of God was poured on him to signify to us no more atonement needed to be paid. Jesus had no need for a conquest or words with the devil–the atonement was God’s business, not the devil’s, and the resurrection was God’s business demonstrating Jesus’s full authority was unstained, in tact and I believe unchallenged between the cross and the throne. *LG

Why Does God’s Plan Of Salvation Not Include Any Help From The Believer?

By Lisa Groen

The truth is all of us have sinned. We’ve all fallen short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)

I don’t mean God isn’t interested in our obedience, because He is! (Romans 1:5) But He must save us first before we can have the kind of obedience he is looking for! (2 Timothy 1:9, Galatians 3:6-9) When God begins with us, we deserve God’s wrath for eternity because it’s about who we’ve sinned against. Why is sin so serious? –because of who we’ve sinned against. The greater the person to whom a wrong is done, the greater the wrong that is done. It’s ultimately against God that we’ve sinned. Every sin we commit is against God in the least sense and against two or more persons in the broadest sense.

God cannot and does not need our efforts to save us because Jesus said it is finished. (John 19:30) It would go against God’s aseity if salvation were dependent on us, (Psalm 3:8) and if it’s against His aseity, it’s against his nature. (Isaiah 45:5, Psalm 86:10) And it would go against what Jesus said if it were not finished but was dependent on us. And that would make Jesus a liar, and he is not! That would make him not Lord but he is Lord! (1 Corinthians 8:6, John 20:28)

If he needed us to do part of the work of our own salvation, and we sometimes err, that means I will or could potentially mess up if it were dependent on me, because erring is the very reason we need salvation. (Romans 3:23) And if my salvation depended on myself, and not God, that potential for error could or would somehow get translated into the work of salvation in my life IF the work of salvation was somehow my work. (Ecclesiastes 7:20, John 3:19) But it’s NOT, it’s God’s work in spite of our work, (Isaiah 57:18) it’s God’s work in place of our work, (Genesis 15:12-21) his work in times of us bewildered because of our failure, (Job 42:6) it’s God’s work in exchange for our work, (2 Corinthians 5:21) it’s God’s work because we don’t have the capacity to work it out left to ourselves, (Romans 5:6) it’s God’s work and him taking the initiative because He sees our work is broken.(Genesis 3:21) It’s God working and us resting in him, Him doing and us trusting, because his work is everlasting (Jeremiah 31:3, Isaiah 41:28) and even when we feel frozen, (Psalm 46:10) or pausing because of our loud weaknesses, (Matthew 26:75) it’s God’s strength made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).

The act of him making us born again is his work 100%. (Isaiah 43:11, Hosea 13:4) That saves us from having to produce the work of making us holy. He will make us holy and he’ll do it by using our obedience (Leviticus 20:8) but not because he is short on obedience but uses ours to shape us. (2 Corinthians 3:18, Romans 8:29). So He is totally in control of the work of saving and sanctifying us. He began the good work and He will finish it.(Philippians 1:6) He is the author and perfector of our faith. (Hebrews 12:2) He is the birther of our walk of service to God, (Exodus 23:25) the designer of it, the upholder of our salvation, (Isaiah 41:13) the producer of it, (1 John 5:4-12) the continuer or it (John 8:31-32) and the founder and completer (Hebrews 11:10, 12:25-29) of the life given by God (1 Corinthians 3:11)

It has to be his work, or it cannot be pure; (2 Samuel 22:7, Habakkuk 1:13) it must be his work or it’s not trustworthy; (Psalm13:5, Isaiah 26:3-4) his work (Revelation 7:10) or it’s not genuine from start to finish. (1 Peter 1:7) And there is only one type of thing from us he needs and that is our failures and sins, our errors and impurities, our falling short and our inadequacies, our blotches and our messes, our missing the mark, and our misunderstandings. Then it’s real! (Colossians 2:14, Galatians 3:14) LG

List of 45 Attributes of God

by Lisa Groen

The “attributes of God” are popular for study among those who seek God’s help. The attributes of God are qualities that God possesses in his personality that describe God’s God-ness. These attributes inform how our approach to God should be as they inspire worship and can also inform how we are able to pray as well as roles God readily fills for the people he has created. The attributes of God that are listed below are taken directly from the Bible. At a later time I will provide the scripture references that are associated with each God-trait.

There are two categories of attributes of God, and they are communicable and incommunicable attributes. The communicable attributes are attributes God shares with those who follow Christ and have been born again when He cleanses them from sin. The incommunicable attributes are attributes He alone as God possesses, and no other one in existence possesses. I have interspersed the two lists and attempted to make this an exhaustive list, but it was a bit difficult knowing God himself is infinite. So, I may have missed a few, but I focused on hitting the larger general areas:

1) His incarnation through Christ

2) His omnipresence

3) His omniscience

4) His omnipotence

5) His glory

6) His graciousness

7) His humanity through Jesus the Son of God

8) His holiness

9) His uncreated existence

10) His eternality

11) His divinity

12) His wisdom

13) His Saving power to save the whole person from sin, spirit mind and body

14) His mercy

15) His humility

16) His throne

17) His kingship

18) His leadership

19) His worth

20) His transcendence

21) His love

22) His joy

23) His peace

24) His patience

25) His kindness

26) His goodness

27) His faithfulness

28) His gentleness

29) His self-control or self-restraint

30) His perfection

31) His suffering

32) His righteousness

33) His incorporeality

34) His immanence

35) His compassion

36) His creatorhood

37) His infinitude

38) His Sovereignty

39) His self-existence

40) His self-sufficiency

41) His justice

42) His immutability-he never changes

43) His incomprehensibility although he allows us to know him and have a relationship with him through Christ

44) His uniqueness-only one God in all of existence

45) His unity within the Godhead, among God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

*LG

Long post but I needed to say it to certain loved ones, with a song

From me to certain loved ones whom I have loved and hurt: When you are sorry for saying things too abruptly or before you truly think them through, and you have strained relationships, and you don’t know how to fix it, it can cause you to turn to God. I made the decision to become more sensitive and humble several weeks ago, but writing this song below was a decision I made to place a stake in the ground for myself so to speak and to turn away from “a confrontational approach” to a more sensitive, humble, and gentle approach to dealing with interpersonal conflict. Although I believe that I had some losses of friends or family that were not entirely my fault, a significant amount possibly were. My decision to post this song (even though I am still deciding on the melody) is a “public apology or stake in the ground” for whoever I may have rubbed the wrong way, who might see this post. My hope is that by it I could share my true sorrow and remorse over rubbing some people the wrong way who I have loved, and I didn’t know I was straining the relationship in ways that caused quite a few losses of connection over the last 5 years or longer. I hope you receive my apology.

“He Smooths our Rough Edges”

Original song By Lisa Groen 10/12/2024

Verse 1

Can you look past all my weaknesses, and somehow see Jesus Christ?

My goal was never to frustrate you, but I said what was on my mind

Before I knew it the words were out and the damage was sorely done

Could you give grace to this sinner like Christ did, God’s only begotten Son?

Chorus:

Oh Lord Heal me I pray as I kneel here and say you are the anchor of my soul

My friends sometimes drift but you are my fortress who will never a good thing withhold

If I feel I miss Your will I lose bliss but I believe that you just might say to me

There’s a deeper healing when the Lord is enough and deeper in Him you shall surely be

Verse 2

I have learned I am no better than those I have judged, we are all in need of grace

So to Jesus Christ I surrender my judgment, and the pride that distorts my gaze

It is harder to see Christ’s beauty when my opinions are catching my eye

So I lay down my old self and go wash in the word and pray Lord please renew my mind.

Chorus:

Oh Lord Heal me I pray as I kneel here and say you are the anchor of my soul

My friends sometimes drift but you are my fortress who will never a good thing withhold

If I feel I miss your will I lose bliss but I believe that you just might say to me

There’s a deeper healing when the Lord is enough and deeper in Him you shall surely be

Verse 3

As much as I believe Jesus rose from the dead, I believe He can heal the soul

His resurrection speaks a change is coming for those surrendered to be made whole

Here I lay down my will, and I seek yours oh Lord, for your plan can heal my every wound

And your life Lord is better than the morning sunrise to dry up the evening dew.

Chorus:

Oh Lord Heal me I pray as I kneel here and say you are the anchor of my soul

My friends sometimes drift but you are my fortress who will never a good thing withhold

If I feel I miss your will I lose bliss but I believe that you just might say to me

There’s a deeper healing when the Lord is enough and deeper in Him you shall surely be

Verse 4

Lord Jesus I come, Oh my God I come, to be healed of the stains of sin

I seek your heart through the word, and I seek your mind Lord to heal, what is out of line within

To the one who can change me, thee only One to remake me, I surrender to you and pray

I clothe myself Lord with what I see in you, please give grace to change me today..

Chorus:

Oh Lord Heal me I pray as I kneel here and say you are the anchor of my soul

My friends sometimes drift but you are my fortress who will never a good thing withhold

If I feel I miss your will I lose bliss but I believe that you just might say to me

There’s a deeper healing when the Lord is enough and deeper in Him you shall surely be

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What Does it Mean to Abide in Christ?     

By Lisa Groen

John 15:4 in the ESV says, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.”

Certainly, there are reasons God calls the believer to Himself for intimacy. As we live our daily lives, and think about our relationship with God, it seems apparent that people are designed by God for relational intimacy. We see intimacy within families, with friendships, with romance, with relationships in which one party must sacrifice or is called to serve others putting their own needs below the needs of those they serve. As a long-time church attender I have seen different aspects of intimacy with God play out in the lives and testimonies of those in attendance in several of the churches I have visited. One aspect of that intimacy with God that the Bible speaks of between the believer and Christ Himself stems directly from John 15:4 which is the Christian call to abide in Him.

What is the definition of abide? The word in the Greek for the word abide in John 15:4 is “meno”. The definition is “to stay, or remain”. The usage of this word in Biblical times was commonly “I remain, abide, stay, wait; I wait for, or I await.”

For a Christian who seems to think it is better that he busy himself or herself with church functions such as going to church potlucks or clean-ups, craft shows, or movie nights rather than waiting on or abiding in God we can challenge those  temptations that are so common to us with the truth of John 15:4. I have personally observed the attendance at church potlucks, clean-ups, and craft shows among most churches are quite regularly higher than most of the same churches’ prayer meetings. Fellowshipping with other Christians is without a doubt of high importance for a believer, but if the whole of our free time after our families and jobs are only about giving time to church social events rather than spending time getting to know God, we have to ask ourselves, am I getting to know God, or only His people? The poignant reality of the definition of eternal life is found in John 17:3 NIV which says, “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”

A very basic reason Christ died on the cross is to help God’s people to know Christ and to know God. Isn’t this the reason The Father sent Christ to earth? Knowing God is the very definition of eternal life itself! This is what we will be doing and growing in for the whole of eternity. Intimacy with God and knowing God will unfold for us one day at a time, and we will be more and more filled with the knowledge of God day after day and it will never get old!

Now by personal experience I have observed that many of our church prayer meetings seem to be filled with respectable, pleasant and honorable Christians attending the prayer meeting to say thanks to God for quite a few things and then jumping right to the long prayer request list. But personally, if we can objectively think about this approach, if a wife or husband were to approach the spouse and say to them “thank you for this and that…and would you do the next 50 things that I and my friends would like to see you do?” And they make it a sure a regular habit to properly rush through the long prayer request list very much like a speed reader would do in order to be a good steward of their time and to not bore the people who are listening so they can cover the most bases and quickly get through the entire large dry sterile tasting mountain of prayer requests, adding a few thank yous here and there….One has to ask if we experience intimacy with God by speed-praying covering something like a long task list of needs, in order to make the most “progress” through our mountains of lists, have we left any room to LISTEN to God? Does anyone LISTEN to God anymore as we pray? Have we resigned our relational God who is the author and creator of relational intimacy to fulfill a mere role of butler and bellhop–errand boy and to the role of prayer request fulfillment technician or have we forgotten that our relational God who is the author and creator of every healthy intimate relationship possible is the God we are praying to? Do we put on the back burner the truth that His sheep hear His voice? Not just that He hears OUR voice?!

Now to the human familiar with earthly habits, one common way to get to know a person is to stay at their house talking with and observing the one you would like to get to know, and God interestingly offers the same kind of approach we earthlings can take with drawing near to our Heavenly Lord and obtain the results of a growing intimacy with Christ and with God.

Through observing church goers over the years, it has become apparent to me that intimacy with God is not found in the loudness of music, nor in the loudness of the praying. It is not found in rushing our prayers, or in rushing our preaching getting the most words in within the time limit because we have to end the church service on time, because the second service has GOT to start on time AND END on time! Intimacy with God is not found primarily in some kind of sense-oriented ecstatic experience, although God can draw his people near to Him and allow sense-oriented experiences of Him.

From Biblical and personal examples for the church attender, we can see that those with a developed intimacy with God can grow in intimacy with God by reading in His Word about His historical actions, what He defends and fights against, His ordinances and decrees, His ways of relating to His people, and other Biblical messages such as in the poetic scripture books, finding out the things that please Him. Another big part of getting to know God is to observe how God carries out His answers to our prayers, and by what we can see of his Sovereignty in the news, in secular history, and in how He handles as a Heavenly Father the lives and circumstances of our Christian brothers and sisters both peripheral and central to our daily lives.

Even beyond these ways that we can observe God objectively through his word and through looking for the things that please Him or anger Him in scripture and noting His responses to the circumstances of our Christian brothers and sisters around us, we must note God is also a personal God–for us. Although the world around us speaks of God objectively, I believe though the witness in scripture of the first institution of God which was put in place by Him of Adam and Eve, a husband and wife, and then the next institution of God put in place called the family, are without a doubt a clear testimony that God continues to speak to show us down through the millennia, that people can know Christ intimately and subjectively, the way family members are set up to know one another.

Without a doubt people are allowed to be in relationships with discernable individual experiences of one another and this speaks of how we can know God in subjective and individual ways. Life and intimacy exist among human beings the way that it does because we are made in the image of a God who lives within intimacy within the 3 persons of the Godhead all of which can be known by His people with the same manner of intimacy even if it is not the full or perfect level of intimacy experienced by the 3 persons of the Godhead. This is a much better intimacy we have been made in the image of God for only than by knowing this God by mere common convention ideology or seeing His ways from afar.

Personal experience or subjective encounters with what seems to be God should never be taken as grounds to set aside what can be known about God objectively through His written word.

In part 2 of this series, we will cover common responses of people in the church in New Testament times that stem from them having one or more encounters with God that they take to be a kind of conviction to give them grounds to set aside what can be known about God in His written word. And that is where the danger begins! This gives insight into the importance again of admonition Jesus gave of John 15:4 of “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.”

Until next time,

Keep groenintheword. LG

Day by Day Bible Exploration of the Communicable and Incommunicable Attributes of God—Day 3

God is Compassionate and Gracious

In the original Hebrew of the Old Testament, according to https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7349.htm the Hebrew word rachum appears 13 times. It is translated into English as the word compassionate. Out of those 13 times it appears, 11 of those times it is used alongside of the word gracious. In fact, in the other two original Hebrew scriptures in which the word rachum, or compassionate is used, (Deuteronomy 4:31 and Psalm 78:38) instead of using gracious alongside of compassionate, the writers of the scriptures were led by God to use phrases such as “He will not abandon you nor destroy you” in Deuteronomy 4:31 and “But He, being compassionate, forgave their wrongdoing and did not destroy them; and often He restrained His anger” in Psalm 78:38. These phrases alongside of compassionate have the meaning of “forgiveness and a restraining of anger”, and God “not destroying the people”, essentially those phrases too means the demonstration of forgiveness, or God ceasing from wrath. The meaning of the phrases are in line with “God showing mercy”, or in other words they are very close to the definition of grace. There is a tremendous amount of overlap between the definitions of grace and mercy and God restraining Himself from wrath.

Let’s observe how the Bible clearly puts God’s compassion and graciousness together, or God’s compassion and God restraining Himself from wrath together side by side in each and every one of the 13 verses below. In 11 of the 13 verses these words compassion and graciousness are so close together in each sentence that the closest adjective in each verse to the word compassion, is the adjective “gracious”. In the remaining 2 of the 13 verses (Deuteronomy 4:31 and Psalm 78:38) there are phrases which have the meaning of graciousness, such as “God is restraining himself from wrath” or declaring God’s choice to “not destroy them” or a declaration of his “forgiveness”, and these phrases are adjacent to the word compassionate:

Exodus 34:6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,

Deuteronomy 4:31 For the Lord your God is a compassionate God; He will not abandon you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them.

2 Chronicles 30:9 For if you return to the Lord, your brothers and your sons will find compassion in the presence of those who led them captive, and will return to this land. For the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate, and will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.”

Nehemiah 9:17 They refused to listen, and did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You performed among them; So they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But You are a God of forgiveness, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in mercy; and You did not abandon them.

Nehemiah 9:31 Nevertheless, in Your great compassion You did not make an end of them or abandon them, for You are a gracious and compassionate God.

Psalm 78:38 But He, being compassionate, forgave their wrongdoing and did not destroy them; and often He restrained His anger and did not stir up all His wrath.

Psalm 86:15 But You, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abundant in mercy and truth.

Psalm 103:8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in mercy.

Psalm 111:4 He has caused His wonders to be remembered; The Lord is gracious and compassionate.

Psalm 112:4 Light shines in the darkness for the upright; He is gracious, compassionate, and righteous.

Psalm 145:8 The Lord is gracious and compassionate; Slow to anger and great in mercy.

Joel 2:13 And tear your heart and not merely your garments.” Now return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in mercy and relenting of catastrophe.

Jonah 4:2 Then he prayed to the Lord and said, “Please Lord, was this not what I said when I was still in my own country? Therefore in anticipation of this I fled to Tarshish, since I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in mercy, and One who relents of disaster.

It is quite fitting to say that God’s graciousness is highlighted by His compassion and vice versa, and his graciousness and compassion complement each other like a strong hand would fit into a snug stretchable glove in a beautiful divine harmony. LG

How Should Jesus’ Lordship Inform Our Faith Walk?

By Lisa Groen

Jesus asked his disciples one day in Luke 6:26 “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I say?” Now aside from this being a very direct question it was one that was intended to bring self-reflection to the disciples to help them evaluate whether or not they were just giving lip service to the Lord and falling short of living in obedience to the Lord they professed to follow. I wrote in another post earlier today that the Biblical definition of Lord in the Greek according to https://biblehub.com/greek/2962.htm is kýrios – “properly, a person exercising absolute ownership rights; lord (Lord).  He to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has the power of deciding; master, lord; used… universally, of the possessor and disposer of a thing, the owner.” Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on the same webpage says, “this title is given to God, the ruler of the universe.” These qualities demand, but not just demand, they encourage, they promote, they spur us on toward loving Jesus in loving obedience.

Romans 1:5 Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for the obedience of faith among all nations for His name, 6 among whom you also are called by Jesus Christ:

Romans 16:25-27  Now to Him who has power to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret for long ages past, 26 but now is revealed by the prophetic Scriptures according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all the Gentiles for the obedience of faith, 27 to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

Matthew 7:24-29 “Whoever hears these sayings of Mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on a rock. 25 And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house. And it did not fall, for it was founded a rock. 26 And every one who hears these sayings of Mine and does not do them will be likened to a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house. And it fell. And its fall was great.” 28 When Jesus finished these sayings, the people were astonished at His teaching, 29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Reflection: How is Christ prompting you to obey Him? What areas of your life seem weak in comparison with the scripture you know? How would the Lord have you pray to strengthen the areas you experience weakness? What would the Lord have you to apply to your life to honor the admonitions we see for the Christ follower in the scripture? Is there a person in your life you can share your prayer concerns with and pursue seeking the Lord’s help in becoming a better follower and doer of the word?   LG

Real Christian Faith: Believing Jesus is Lord, Jesus is God, and Jesus Came to Earth as Lord, God, and The Lamb of God

The Biblical definition of Lord in the Greek according to https://biblehub.com/greek/2962.htm is kýrios – properly, a person exercising absolute ownership rights; lord (Lord).  He to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has the power of deciding; master, lord; used… universally, of the possessor and disposer of a thing, the owner. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on the same webpage says this title is given to God, the ruler of the universe. 

True faith must have the right understanding of the identity of God and Jesus:

The Bible declares the Lord is God:

Exodus 15:2 The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise Him; my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.

Exodus 18:11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, for in the matter in which they treated the people insolently, He was above them.”

Exodus 34:14 (for you shall not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),

Deuteronomy 3:24 “O Lord God, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness, and Your mighty hand, for what god is there in heaven or in earth that can do according to Your works and according to Your might?

The next Bible verse tells us there is such a thing as “God of Gods” and “Lord of Lords” which is one person—the Lord your God— which we see from this Deuteronomy verse:

Deuteronomy 10:17 For the Lord your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the fearsome God who is unbiased and takes no bribe.

Evidence That Jesus is Lord:

The Bible declares Jesus is Lord in numerous scriptures, and that Jesus is the Lord of Lords. Many people wh lived in Jesus’ day gave Jesus the title “Lord” and Jesus never corrected them. Some of them are

Matthew 4:7 Jesus said to him, “It is also written, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ” Jesus spoke this to Satan who was trying to tempt Him.

Matthew 9:28 When He entered the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”

1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life, to which you are called and have professed a good profession before many witnesses. 13 I command you, in the sight of God, who gives life to all things, and in the sight of Christ Jesus, who testified a good confession before Pontius Pilate, 14 to keep this commandment without blemish, blameless until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which He, who is the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, will reveal at the proper time. 16 He alone has immortality, living in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen, nor can see. To Him be honor and everlasting power. Amen.

Luke 5:12 When He was in a certain city, a man full of leprosy, upon seeing Jesus, fell on his face and begged Him, “Lord, if You will, You can make me clean.”

The above scriptures show Jesus is Lord, and Because Jesus is Lord, Jesus is God because The Lord is God:

Now we are onto scriptures showing Jesus is the Lamb of God

John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

John 1:36 Looking upon Jesus as He walked, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

1 Peter 1:18-20 For you know that you were not redeemed from your vain way of life inherited from your fathers with perishable things, like silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. 20 He was foreordained before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for you.

The Lamb of God is Jesus, so the next verse tells us Jesus (the Lamb of God) is the Lord of lords and King of kings

Revelation 17:14 These will wage war with the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings. Those who are with Him are called and chosen and faithful.”

The next following verses tell us Jesus the Lamb has qualities only God possesses:

Revelation 5:12 saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing!”

Revelation 5:13 Then I heard every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that are in them, saying: “To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and power, forever and ever!”

Revelation 7:10 They cried out with a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

Revelation 7:17 for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and ‘He will lead them to springs of living water.’ ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”

Revelation 13:8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, all whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world.

Revelation 14:4 These are those who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are those who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, as first fruits to God and to the Lamb.

Revelation 21:23 The city has no need of sun or moon to shine in it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

Because of discovering the overlap with these Biblical titles for Jesus, we become better equipped for the posture we must take as Christians in response to the revealing of these aspects of the person of Jesus.

Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, may our posture toward you in prayer, worship and everyday life reflect the knowledge that you are Lord, you are God, and that you are the Lamb of God who takes away our sin. May the outworking of our faith in this life honor you as Lord, Savior, and God, and when we fall short of your glory, may the touch of the Lamb strengthen us as we think about how familiar you were with human frailty and how familiar you are with our griefs. May our fellowship with you be one of humility because of your example as we see your approach toward us is that of a humble Lamb. As we encounter people of other faiths who may have been taught errors instead of facts about you Jesus, Lord may we follow your gentle approach and example that you have shown to us, and may you prepare us with truth to share in ways that can bring them real hope and the true sense of your grace, because it was you who demonstrated the laying down of your life for the sins of the world, the ultimate humility and graciousness. May more and more people through taking in of the scriptures such as the ones listed above dear Lord become aware that salvation came from you in these aspects as you filled these titles and qualities you lived out in your life on earth and on the cross and currently possess in heaven. For you said Jesus, as the Lamb who died on the cross for us, the words “It is finished”. These words showed you opened the way of salvation for the world in need of it to come simply through faith, because you were slain on the cross for our sins and did this as Lord, as God, and true salvation can only come through God, not as a work of a man. Lord Jesus you fulfilled the role of the Lamb of God that was slain from the foundation of the world and now are present in heaven as Lord, God, and Lamb of God. May these truths ever inform our walk of faith with you, our prayer, in our devotion, and in our sharing this hope of salvation with others. LG

Day by Day Bible Exploration of the Communicable and Incommunicable Attributes of God—Day 2

God is Benevolent

According to https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/benevolent, gives 3 main descriptions for a benevolent person. First, it describes benevolence as “marked by or disposed to doing good”, such as “a benevolent donor”. 2 “organized for the purpose of doing good” such as a “benevolent society”. And 3, “marked by or suggestive of goodwill”, such as benevolent smiles.

Merriam-Webster.com goes on to say about the history of the word, it is as follows—”Benevolent has a good history. One who is benevolent genuinely wishes other people well, a meaning reflected clearly in the word’s Latin roots: benevolent comes from bene, meaning “good,” and velle, meaning “to wish.”” A benevolent person is one who wishes a person well. It is reminiscent of the greeting of John to Gaius in 3rd John 1:2 which reads, “Dear friend, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, just as it is well with your soul.”

It also reflects the goodwill of God toward mankind in Luke 2:14 which is what the angels were announcing at Jesus Birth, which is “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” God’s good will was proclaimed at the very start of God’s plan of redemption. It shows nothing less than God’s own good will. Right at the very start of Jesus’s life on earth, God announced His benevolence to be heard about and to be sung about by angels and proclaimed all across the earth toward people.

Additional scriptures that support the idea of God’s benevolence or support the truth that God takes pleasure in showing His goodwill toward people are Ephesians 1:5, which reads, “He predestined us to adoption as sons to Himself through Jesus Christ according to the good pleasure of His will.” Also, as God is all wise, we see wisdom speaking in Proverbs 8:31, telling how it had been “Rejoicing in the world, His earth, And having my delight in the sons of mankind.” And Philippians 2:13 speaks of God’s good pleasure again which reads, “For God is the One working in you, both to will and to do His good pleasure.” LG

Day by Day Bible Exploration of the Communicable and Incommunicable Attributes of God -Day 1

by Lisa Groen

Aseity—from the website https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ aseity is “the quality or state of being self-derived or self-originated specifically : the absolute self-sufficiency, independence, and autonomy of God. A couple scripture passages that show God’s aseity are Isaiah 45:21 Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; (this shows God’s independence and autonomy) and Isaiah 43:10, ““You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.”(this shows his absolute self-sufficiency) From Dictionary.com “An aseity is the existence of something that has no source outside of itself or that has always existed with no creation.” Or in other words, God is God all by Himself. He perfectly fills the role with no equal and with no one needing to help him be God. Although ministering to God (for example as Samuel did) and fellowshipping with God may seem to have some overlap in meaning, they are different from the idea of “helping” God exist as God because to help God be God is an oxymoron. While I believe God can take pleasure in us, and when a believer participates in fellowshipping with God and/or ministering to God, those things are the result of his people having been made a part of His kingdom but somehow those functions don’t add to God’s personal God-ness, although those functions serve to glorify His kingdom and rule. Acts 7:49-50 shows the self-sufficiency and autonomy of God, a quality of vital importance to keep in mind as we relate to him. It reads, “‘Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool. What house will you build for Me? says the Lord, or what is the place of My rest? Has not My hand made all these things?’” 

Over the next several weeks I hope to cover much more, as I add to this list of God’s attributes. LG