Much is made today of confessing with the mouth that "Jesus is Lord." Generally, when an evangelist or preacher invites people to be saved, what he is saying is that he desires for people to come up to the front where he is at and say a prayer and then they will be saved. If this person ever doubts their salvation, this same preacher will tell them to "remind the Devil" that they said the prayer. Trust in the prayer they teach. Sounds ridiculous to me as I write. It is ashame to see the gospel prostituted like this.

Here is a major problem with the above. A profession of faith will always come for the genuine believer, however just because a person makes a profession of faith does not mean they are a genuine believer. Someone can claim they have fellowship with God, but walk in darkness and they lie and have not the truth (1 John 1:6). Or as Titus 1:16 puts it:

"They profess to know [Yahweh], but they deny Him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, and disqualified for any good work."

We aren't talking here about atheists. We are talking about people who say that they are a Christian. They wouldn't ever deny the Creator with their mouth, they would even think such would be preposterous. Far be it from them to ever speak against the Mighty One of heaven. We are talking about people within the ranks of professing Christians. It is inside of these people that we have professors of God with their mouth, but a denial of Yahweh with their works. If you are denying Yahweh right now, you are doing it by the way you live. It's easy to speak the words "I believe in Yahweh," but showing others you believe in Him by the way you live is a completely different story. It can only be done by the work of the Spirit of Yahweh.

Look at 1 Timothy 5:8. This is a chapter devoted to showing how widows should be materially provided for. On a larger scale it teaches us that a man is required to provide for his family. The text states:

"Now if anyone does not provide for his own relatives, and especially for his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever."

How does this man deny the faith? Does he shake his fist at heaven and blaspheme the name of the Creator? That's not what the text says at all. He denies the faith by something done (or in this case not done) and not by something said.

It is easy to say you know Yahweh, but if you truly know Him you will be keeping His commandments (1 John 2:2-4). If you really have been saved by grace through faith, works of righteousness will follows (Ephesians 2:8-9, and don't forget to read the next verse, verse 10.)

Matthew Janzen

He Became Sin - by Matthew Janzen
Isaiah 53; 2 Corinthians 5:21

He was pierced through for my transgressions
He was crushed for my sin
The punishment for my peace fell upon Him
And by His bloody stripes I'm clean within

If I could have been there that day
I don't think I would ever be the same
But the reality is I was there, being nailed, to the tree
I recognize I was not even born
But knowing the full truth makes me feel torn
The King of kings He bled, He suffered and died
Just for me, He took my place

He became sin for me
When I should have been crucified upon that tree
And I took on His righteousness
And don't ever forget He gave it willingly
He said if there be a way, please Father
Let this dreadful cup now pass from me
But nonetheless not my will be done but Yours
He became sin

It seems at times it weighs upon my mind
I can't help thinking of it all the time
How one so holy, separate from all sin, could take the place
Of a man, a sinful one like me
I have nothing to bring Him but all my sin
No works of righteousness from within
But He says come to me and I will make you clean
Purify your heart, give you a new start

He became sin for me
When I should have been crucified upon that tree
And I took on His righteousness
And don't ever forget He gave it willingly
He said if there be a way, please Father
Let this dreadful cup now pass from me
But nonetheless not my will be done but Yours
He became sin

Oh, He was crushed by the Father
It even pleased Yahweh our God to bruise Him
And the reason for this wrath is because of the sin
Of you, and me

The Son became sin for me
When I should have been crucified upon that tree
And I took on His righteousness
And don't ever forget He gave it willingly
He said if there be a way, please Father
Let this dreadful cup now pass from me
But nonetheless not my will be done but Yours
The Son became sin

He was pierced through for my transgressions
He was crushed for my sin
The punishment for my peace fell upon Him
And by His bloody stripes I'm clean within

Mark 13:32 states the following (NASB):

"But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only."

This seems pretty straight forward to me. Not even the Son of the Father knows the day and hour of the coming that is predicted in Mark 13.

One of the attributes of Deity is that Elohim is omniscient - all knowing. There is absolutely zero that Yahweh Elohim does not know. There are too many passages in the Bible that make this clear. Isaiah 46:9-10 (KJV) will suffice for now:

"Remember the former things of old: for I am Elohim, and there is none else; I am Elohim, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure."

I have shown Mark 13:32 to many Trinitarians as well as Oneness believers and generally they usually explain to me that the Son really does know the day and the hour, exactly the opposite of what the passage blatantly says. The response goes something like this:

"Well, Matthew, he was talking about his human nature not knowing, but his divine nature really did know."

What this amounts to is someone saying, "I realize he said he did not know, but I believe that he really did know." Is this what Yeshua was trying to get across to his listeners when uttering these words? Was he trying to tell them that although he said he did not know he could at any point switch over to his divine nature and know all of a sudden? Do you honestly believe that is really what he meant?

Is is much easier to allow the passage to speak to us from its context. The Son of the Father doesn't know, right in line with the angels and me and you. This is what the Bible says, and there is nothing in the context of the passage that would lead us to believe otherwise. I'd much rather stay with what is actually said, rather than the exact opposite of what is said.

Matthew Janzen

When a person dies it is generally thought by professing Christians that the person is really alive in some way or form. It seems that people have a belief in an "immortal soul" of sorts and that it is just the body that dies but the "soul goes marching on." For example, if "Joe Smith" dies and was a faithful member of the church, his Pastor may remark at Joe's funeral that Joe has went on to be with the Lord. The Pastor may also say something like, "Joe is looking down on us right now." Are these thoughts Biblical? Do people even care what the Bible has to say about the state of those who have died?

Ecclesiastes 9:2-6 - "All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath. This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead. For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy,is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun."

Notice that at death the same thing happens to both the righteous and unrighteous, the clean and unclean, the good and the sinner. It is not that the good person goes to heaven and the bad person goes to "hell" (an often misunderstood and misinterpreted word). They all go to the same place; to the dead, that is the state of death. The text goes on to say that the living know that they will die. As I write this paragraph, I know that one day I will grow old and I will die; that is something that I am assured of, because I am alive right now and can think and reason with my intellect. The opposite of that is that the dead do not know anything. How can this be if they are in heaven praising and worshiping Yahweh? Certainly they would know something. Or what about if they are being tormented in "hell" with fire as nominal Christianity teaches. Don't you think they would know they were on fire? Of course they would, but the point is that they do not know because they are really dead. It's not just that they appear to us to be dead, but have really survived death in some form.

Psalm 88:10 - "Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah."

Here the psalmist asks if Yahweh can show a wonder to a dead person. He also asks if the dead will praise Yahweh. Notice though that the psalmist understands that praise can only be given by the dead if they have risen, that is, if resurrection takes place. A dead person cannot praise Yahweh.

Psalm 6:4-5 - "Return, O Yahweh, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies' sake. For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?"

Here David asks Yahweh to deliver him and save him because he knows that if he dies he his memory will be gone and he will not be able to give thanks to Yahweh. This is why the writer rhetorically asks, "in the grave who will give you thanks?"

Psalm 30:9 - "What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee?shall it declare thy truth?"

Here we see that when a person goes into the pit (corruption, decay, etc.) they do not have the ability to praise Yahweh or declare His truths. When the psalmist says "shall the dust praise thee" he is hearkening back to what Yahweh declared to Adam in Genesis 3:19, "for dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return." Man was made from the dust of the earth, and when man dies he goes back to the dust of the earth.

Isaiah 38:18 - "For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth."

There is no praising Yahweh for the dead who have went to the grave. They cannot celebrate Him or hope for His truth, because they are... dead. They are not conscious.

There are other passages in Scripture that teach this truth; the dead are really dead - they are not alive somewhere else in the universe. However, there is hope for those who have died in Christ. That hope is not experienced right now, but in the future at the resurrection of their bodies (1 Thess. 4; 1 Cor. 15).

Matthew Janzen