Da Bauz's Take: April 2021

While we were still sinners, Christ shed His innocent Blood

Religion Sucks

Religions and Religious Systems the world over share one common theme:

Adherents of ALL¹ Religious System(s) are expected, even required, to meet said Religious System(s)' Deity(ies)' (or the Religious System's ideological) standard(s) of conduct

The sole purpose, and function, of Religious Systems is to control the masses... to manipulate adherents of the various Religious Systems into submissive compliance with the Religious Systems' Deity's / deities' / ideologies' will, or wills.

Many will argue / point out that - "Don't you know that "Atheism" cannot be a religion, as it has no deity!" A similar claim has been made by some that Satanism is not really a religion either, because it has no formal deity... the contemporary argument is that - "Satanism is a philosophy, and that "satan" is just an ideology, or an ideological ideal, but not really a deity." Well... Buddhism has no formal deity either, and it is recognized as a religion / Religious System.

Do Religious Systems like Islam, Judaism, Satanism, Buddhism and even religious-christianity, hold adherents to some expectation of meeting certain standards of conduct, as a requisite condition of love from (or acceptance by) said Religious System's deity / deities / ideological ideals? I do believe so, yes.

Let us look at Satanism, first - "Memberships may be terminated... at the discretion of the ruling body of the Church of Satan consisting of the High Priest, the High Priestess, and the Council of Nine." ³ and "...membership operates on a system of degrees... One must apply *and be approved* for an active membership, and this is subject to one's answers to a lengthy series of questions. Promotion to... higher degree[s] is by invitation only, and the requirements for each degree are not open to the public." - a.k.a. "Meet certain standards of conduct, as a requisite condition of acceptance by said Religious System's ideological ideals."

Next, let us look at Judaism... does Judaism, Orthodox or Reform, require or at least infer that its adherents meet certain minimum standards (G-d's perfect standards) to be accepted? Again, it is my very firm belief that, "yes, Judaism (both Orthodox and Reform) has requisite conditions, for acquisition and sustention, of membership within its Religious System." The TaNaKh, or Christian Old Testament, is awash with examples, beginning with Adam, carrying through to the Persian king, Cyrus, II Chronicles 36:23 - "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia..." - of people citing, describing, declaring standards of conduct by the adherents of the Religious System. We begin with a simple, single, albeit 23-word-long Command from G-d (Christ) - "...but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” - Genesis 2:17, ESV. From the disobedience to that one single Command, and the consequences attached to disobedience, we arrive at first - the Seven Noahide Laws (which come from the Talmud, ergo NOT really Biblical laws - ²), the Seven Noahide Laws² are:

"1. Do not deny God (no idolatry).
2. Do not murder.
3. Do not steal.
4. Do not engage in sexual immorality.
5. Do not blaspheme.
6. Do not eat of a live animal (no eating flesh taken from an animal while it is still alive).
7. Establish courts and legal systems to ensure obedience of these laws." ²

The 6th one is particularly intriguing, even with the "Got Questions" qualifier in parentheses included (which marries with Genesis 9:4, very well), because of what we read in Genesis Chapter Nine, verse 3 - "Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you." - you see, pre-flood, all animal life was intended to be vegetarian. It is my firm belief that, part of the - "...wickedness of man [that] was great in the earth..." - Genesis 6:5, was the consumption of meat, animal flesh (cooked and raw). I assert this because, A) - first and foremost, the wording of Genesis 1:29 & 30 support this view. This is1 where G-d said to His creatures, both human and animals alike:

“29 Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed... on... the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit... for food. 30 And to every beast... bird... and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.”

"I give you every green plant for food”!! No mention of anyone, human or animal, being told to eat meat. And B) - the mere fact that G-d saw fit to inspire Noah to declare, as Moses recorded later, what we read in Genesis 9:3

Continuing on from the Seven Noahide Laws, we have the "Ten Commandments", Deuteronomy 5:1 - 21 and Exodus 20:1 - 17, given by G-d, yeah even written (both times) directly by the very finger of G-d (Christ) - Exodus 31:18 & Deuteronomy 9:10 - in fact, with the original tablets of the Ten Commandments, we're told very plainly that G-d orated these Commandments - "The LORD spoke these commands in a loud voice to your entire assembly from the fire, cloud..." - Deuteronomy 5:22 HCSB - G-d spoke, in a loud voice, to the entire assembly (and He did so) before He scribed the Ten Commandments into the stone tablets...

And then, continuing through the remaining Books of the Old Testament (TaNaKh) with inputs from the Talmud, we find some 613 additional Rabbinical Commands ⁴, yet we know that “The Just Shall Live by Faith” ⁶ from Scripture. And a simple theme that can be seen, from Adam's fall, through to Babylonian exile, is that man, very simply put, cannot in any way, shape or form, meet G-d's standards. Humankind, it would seem, is hopelessly lost... and really... we are, outside of Christ that is, at least. So, question... did G-d spend (as the "atheists", satanists, and other nay-sayers claim) nearly 4,000 years, from Adam to Jesus, trying in vain to redeem man?

Does the Old Testament / TaNaKh then depict a hapless, emaciated, milquetoast gawd? I certainly do not think so, not for one micro-second. Instead, what the 4,000 years of seemingly never-ending addition of new laws depicts, in my view, is a G-d who is so patient, in His all-knowing way about humankind's stiff-necked pride, and so compassionate toward His creation, humans, and so passionate about His plan of Salvation for His creation, humans that...

That He invested nearly 4,000 years of pre-recorded and recorded history (up to roughly c.~ 400 BC) to lay out the Incontrovertible facts that - man cannot redeem himself! That man cannot, in and of himself, meet Judaism's Deity's standard(s) of conduct

Now that's ^^^ love, patients, and devotion.

Third, let us explore religious-christianity, does religious-christianity (legalistic christianity) require, or at least infer that, its adherents meet certain minimum standards (G-d's perfect standards) to be accepted? You tell me... are there legalistic christian Groups which tell their adherents - "you must obey, or you're either not truly sincere, or you're deluded. Either way, Christ will say to you - "Depart from me, for I never knew you”.”? I believe the answer to this to be, sadly (even if well intentioned) yes.

In short, Religious Systems require their adherents to:

comply with their deity's / deities' / ideological views or standard(s) of conduct

to (hopefully, yet without certainty) garner the acceptance, and approval of the Religious System's deity's / deities' / ideological ideals' set(s) of standards... Islam does this, Buddhism does this, Hinduism does this, Satanism does this, yes... even Judaism and religious-christianity do this.

wow, that is one tough gig!

Now consider Biblical Christianity... what makes Biblical Christianity, and the Christian's G-d, who is Jesus the Christ / Yeshua ha Mashiach (Rabbi Yeshua bar Yosef) stand alone, apart, and wholly unique amongst tens of thousands, if not hundreds of millions of other deities?

"...G-d proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:8, Berean Study Bible

While we were still sinners, Christ shed His innocent Blood, for us. That folks, that ^^^ right there, is GOOD NEWS!

“No Jesus, NO peace” and yet, “Know Jesus, KNOW peace”

How does one get to “know” Jesus? Simple, invite Him into your heart, as Jesus says: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” [Revelation 3:20 NIV] How can be assured that this Jesus stuff means anything? Well because the Bible tells us so, as the Apostle Paul wrote:

“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” [Romans 10:9-10 NIV]

And for those of you who say to me, I can’t be bothered reading the Bible, “it’s confusing” or “it’s a waste of my time”, may I draw your attention to what the Bible says about wisdom: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” [Proverbs 9:10 NIV]

If nothing else, PLEASE read two chapters from the Bible – (don’t own one, sorry NO excuse, if you’re reading this, you can access this: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%203:16&version=NIV) John 3 and John 14!

John 3:16 says: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

And John 14:6 says: “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Just sayin’...

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem...

What is #RAD? #RAD is:

R epent of rejecting Christ

A ccept Christ as your Lord

D evelop your relationship with G-d

#RAD your relationship with the Living Almighty God Himself as your personal Lord and Saviour depends on it!

What is #ATEND G-d (Christ)? Ask me!

What is #IIC714?

II 2nd

C hronicles

7:14

John 3:16, Revelation 3:20, Romans 10:9 -10, Revelation 21:27, II Corinthians 5:21 and I John 5:13 / John 20:31!

Shalom

Cited or consulted sources, references, and resources

[1] - ALL Religious Systems, including but not limited to, "Atheism", Islam, Judaism, Secularism, religious-christianity, Satanism, Hinduism, and Buddhism etc. Yes, even religious-christianity.

[2] - "What are the Noahide Laws, and... - https://www.gotquestions.org/Noahide-laws.html - ...are they biblical?"

[3] - Affiliation with, and retention of - https://www.churchofsatan.com/affiliation - membership in good standing with the Church of Satan

[4] - 613 Rabbinical Commands - https://dabauzstake.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-just-shall-live-by-faith.html - January 5, 2018

[5] - Religion Sucks - https://dabauzstake.blogspot.com/2011/10/organized-religions.html - October 19, 2011

[6] - The Just Shall Live by Faith - https://dabauzstake.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-just-shall-live-by-faith.html - May 22, 2013

http://bit.ly/1kliLwA, “Bible Hub”

http://bit.ly/1kliTMD, “Bible Gateway”

http://bit.ly/1MzWhEQ, “Bible.org”

http://bit.ly/2qPm835, “Bible.is”

http://bit.ly/2qOVbNd, “The Bible Project”

http://bit.ly/2qP1lg8, “Biblia”

http://bit.ly/2qP26FP, “Bible Study Tools”