Quick clarification question: when you say Christ paid the penalty for past sins, do you mean past relative to when he came, OR past relative to when each individual believed in him?
The latter, although we need to believe Him (Christ), not just "in" Him (in His existence).
Lucifer/Satan believes in Christ, i.e. Satan (the Opposer) knows Christ exists, and actively works against Christ and against Father (God).
What we need to do is believe exactly what Christ says and teaches, which is very different than what organized religions teach (including Christianity).
Rephrasing that, are you saying Christ paid for the sins each individual committed up until the moment they accepted him, just that from that point on they are to follow the Law?
Yes. However, one cannot honestly claim to have accepted Christ while actively working against Him (i.e. while disobediently ignoring His Teachings and Life Example).
Regardless of whether people believe it or not, with the exception of Enoch, we have all been here numerous times, in different human bodies over the past 6000 years, as part of the gracious rehabilitation program for those genuinely interested in learning how to be good.
Reincarnation is an irrefutable fact taught throughout Scriptures.
Christ told His Disciples that some of them standing there (with Him when He was here in the body of Jesus 2000 years ago) would not taste death until they see Him (Christ) again
NOW, during these end times. Christ very obviously didn't mean that some of the Disciples would remain in those same human bodies for the next 2000 years, only to experience physical death upon seeing Christ again. What would be the point?
It should be self-evident that Christ was speaking about the death of the ego/"self", i.e. one's self/selfish will. The "self"
MUST be crucified daily as a prerequisite to doing God's Will (please see
Matt. 10:38,
Mark 8:34,
Luke 9:23,
Luke 14:26-27, and
Gal. 2:20 for confirmation of this fact). Nobody can physically be crucified on a daily basis nor experience physical death every day, so the referenced verses are plainly speaking of the "self" (as is
Hebrews 9:27, which would be untrue if it were referring to physical death).
Matthew 16:27-28
16:27
For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his WORKS.
16:28
Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste death (of the "Self"), till they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.
Being truly "born again from above", as one's true,
spiritual self, is the beginning of the death to the "self", i.e. the mortification/crucifixion of the flesh (human). The Law of God is foreign to humans, which is why no human understands The Law nor can keep it. But every Soul (spirit-Being) can and
MUST learn to keep The Law, which requires being in control of the human
at all times ("self" control).
The
SOUL that sinneth shall
SURELY die, because the wages of sin are
death (see
Ezek. 18:4,
20 and
Rom. 6:23). That is the rightful penalty for sinning/breaking God's Law, as it says in The Law (see
Deut. 28:15-68)
There is no such thing as a "born again Christian" because anyone who is genuinely born again has the spiritual eyesight to see that the organized religion that deceitfully calls itself "Christianity" teaches the exact opposite of what Christ teaches. And when one is truly born again, they can see the true purpose and spiritual joy in doing Father's Will instead of their own selfish will at all times,
which begins by realizing that we are not human. How else could anyone truly give up all of their worldly, materialistic desires while still believing they are the human they are living inside of temporarily (
Matt. 6:24)?
John 5:30
I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the Will of the Father which hath sent me.
With this background information in mind, when someone truly awakens, they will invariably strive to keep The Law that Father gave us, realizing that Father gave it to us for our own benefit, to protect us from evil and to free us from bondage to sin. As sin is defined as the breaking/transgression of The Law, how else could we be freed from bondage to sin other than to keep The Law? And how can anyone believe that keeping The Law isn't possible when Christ said
WITH Father
ALL things are possible (
Matt. 19:26)?
"Thy Kingdom come. Thy Will be done in earth, as [it is] in heaven." (Matt. 6:10).
How can "Christianity" so misread such clear statements? Does anyone actually believe that breaking God's Law can somehow be doing God's Will?
Christ, as the only begotten Son of God, who was not brought forth in sin as the rest of us, has a sinless nature. We do not.
Even Christ, while He was incarnated inside of Jesus, had a learning period, so that He could learn to
overcome the sinful flesh and become the Perfect Example for all of us. But that truthful information is ignored by most as well, so they can continue believing the lie that we are "only human after all" and that God supposedly gave us a law that no one can keep, which is ridiculous.
This is what Christ actually said:
Matthew 19:16-17
19:16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have Eternal Life?
19:17 And he said unto him,
Why callest thou ME good? [there is] none good but One, [that is], God: but if thou wilt enter into Life, keep the Commandments.
Why did Christ fast Jesus for 40 days and 40 nights if not to overcome the sinful flesh (and show us how to do it)?
This is what is said about Christ
learning obedience:
Hebrews 5:7-9
5:7 Who in the days of his flesh (when Christ was here in the body of Jesus), when he (Christ) had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him (Father) that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
5:8 Though he were a Son,
yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
5:9 And being
made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation
unto all them that obey him;
Each of us can and must learn obedience too, just as Christ did. There is no other way to truly accept Christ than through obedience.
