The Bible Beyond the Words: new revised edition

And now, fallacy number two.

Grace is the most important instrument of our salvation. But, however much importance we give to it, it is not the only instrument. Salvation is by grace in that it is impossible for us to merit. Without it there would be no hope. But grace only provides a way for us to gain access to the kingdom of heaven. We still must make the effort to get there.

A convenient way to understand this process is to picture it as a stairway that leads upward from an ignoble worldly life to ever increasing heights of glory in heaven. Spiritual rebirth sets our feet on the first landing. When we step up, we begin a process of ascension to our reward. It is by our works that we build the spiritual strength to ascend to whatever level of heavenly reward we hope to receive. However, as we ascend we are still functioning under grace. Although these rewards are gifts that God freely gives, and all the works we can possibly do are not sufficient to earn what awaits us; we still must put forth the effort to climb to where they are and receive them. Once we enter the door to salvation by yielding our lives to Christ, we are free to remain at the bottom of the stairs if we so choose. That will gain us eternal life—but our rewards will be minimal at best. It is through ascending that stairway that we earn “treasures in heaven.” It is not an escalator. We must ascend on our own volition through spiritual growth.

In many religious circles, grace has been overemphasized to the extent that works have largely been reduced to insignificance. However, how far we ascend that stairway will determine the extent of our reward. That climb, through reaching, learning, growing, and practicing, is what being a Christian is all about. What follows in this book, The Bible Beyond the Words, is spiritual, biblical, and scientific information that will hopefully stir the reader to become fully engaged in that process.

All that stands between us and a place by the throne of God is the extent of our willingness to diligently pursue the full knowledge of truth and the ultimate reward of that pursuit—which is absolute bliss, power, and glory in the presence of God. If we pursue a relationship with God with full intent, we will find the way open and well marked. But, let us remember: by grace we are saved—not by works; by our works we are judged—not by grace; by grace we are forgiven—not rewarded for works not accomplished.

There are two great fallacies that hinder today’s Christians in their efforts to rationally proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. One of them has been with us almost from the beginning of humankind. I do not know just when the other one was introduced, but it has been around for a long while.

Fallacy number one was that Adam brought on physical death by eating the forbidden fruit. Satan first twisted man’s future out of kilter in the Garden of Eden by telling Eve and, by extension, Adam the first and biggest lie of all time; which was that by eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil man would not die but would, in fact, become Godlike. The second part of his story was actually true. By that first act of disobedience, all mankind, instead of being forever innocent through blissful ignorance, would have the opportunity, by knowing sin and running up against temptation, to develop strong spiritual character. Thereby, as we grew in Christ-like stature, we would become like him.

If you think about it, that biggest of all liars only applied what many politicians and business people today refer to as “spin” to the truth. His purpose in this ruse was twofold. First, it was to establish in our minds that our physical demise—which Jesus would later refer to as the temporary condition called sleep—was the death that God meant when he told them they would surely die. His second purpose was to make us believe that physical existence is the only life there is and thereby make it more tempting to live in the most self-indulgent way possible.

Obviously, it was a remarkable success. Much of humankind accepts the premise still today that we die physically because of Adam’s sin. They believe that this death is final. But knowledgeable Christians know that there is also a spiritual death; and it was to this death that God was referring when he spoke those words to Adam.

We do not inherit life by being born on this earth; we inherit death. We are born alive. But each of us becomes a partaker of that well-known tree of death known as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil when we first sin. From that moment on we are as the walking dead until we re-enter spiritual life by being born again. The first purpose of our mortal life is to reach toward that spiritual rebirth. In that quest both the possibility and the process of salvation reside.

But our reaching must be guided by the freedom and ability to reason intelligently. Such freedom was assured in the beginning on the condition that men would retain a close relationship with God. But they soon traded it for a fleeting moment of self-indulgent pleasure and thus were separated from God. To regain that intelligence, Adam and Eve had to re-establish their relationship with God. Everyone born into this life thereafter has been exposed to sin. And we are, therefore, required to follow that same process.

This book is an appendage of sorts to a book I published in 2004 on the same general subject; that is: the relevance of Christianity in the modern world. However, because this work covers a much wider and deeper scope, and since I am no longer fond of the title of the earlier book, I chose to write this one as an entirely new work. While I have revised and repeated some of the information found in the first work, my insights have grown far ahead of what they were then. So this book will not cheat those who read the previous one. This new effort represents my continued learning in doctrine and my growth in Christ in the years since.

This is not a scholarly volume. It comes partly out of fifty plus years of reading books and articles about the gospel of Christ; preaching and hearing it preached from the pulpit and explained in seminars and classes; reading books and articles on science; and reading and rereading the scriptures; all while praying for the ability to discern what is true. But much of it has also come from the inspiration of the still small voice revealed in I Kings 19 that comes to me often, as it does to all Christians who are seeking a closer walk with God, in spiritually felt witness; and sometimes to my mind in real, though unspoken, words. My arguments are not founded on orthodoxy or tradition, but on the conclusions I have arrived at—and been led to—through the above circumstances.

The theme of this book is simply, “what makes sense.” Like all things that come to the table of religious thought through the filter of humanity, it is surely imperfect. I do not offer it as full and final truth. But it is significantly ahead of the pitiable—even poisonous—religious diet that Christians have been fed consistently over the past 1500 years or more. Hopefully it will stir some higher thought about why Christian influence has so greatly waned as knowledge has increased in the world; and end Christians’ inclination toward blaming the world for our own failure to draw people to Jesus Christ.

 

This is a book about what most people–including Christians–don’t know about the Bible; mysteries that have gone undetected for centuries because of the mistaken belief that the fullness of God’s message to humanity is revealed in those literal words. Fact is, those words tell only the beginning of the story.

In the generations when the Bible was produced, God used metaphors–and Jesus used parables–to reveal only the fundamental truth of his doctrine because humanity had not yet developed the capacity to understand, or the moral nature to properly respond to, the deeper truths that he wanted us to know.

Yet that truth was couched within these stories from the beginning, waiting to be discovered by future generations as we develop the required educational capacity and, more importantly, the spiritual character to handle it wisely and righteously.

The Bible Beyond the Words reveals many of these heretofore unknown truths, and the path to enlightenment about many others. For instance, it explains how the wrath of God is not in opposition to the love of God; how creationism and evolutionism connect to unveil the whole truth about our beginning; how the perceived unfairness of life is a myth; and many other facets of deeper truth.

Take, for instance, the common doctrine about hell. Do you tremble in fear of that dreadful lake of fire and brimstone that many Christian leaders teach? Or do you count it as not being true because it doesn’t fit the character of a loving God? The fuller truth revealed in this book plainly shows–by the scriptures–that, while it is greatly to be dreaded, that lake is also an expression of God’s great love for humankind; a final, extreme step to insure everlasting life for every person in God’s creation.

YOU NEED THIS BOOK to find the path to knowledge of the many other truths that God wants you to know. It is available through LifeRich publishing.com, Readers Digest’s web site, Amazon.com, Amazon UK, and Barnesandnoble.com. Other outlets can order it for you.