"where is the promise of His coming?" is a prophesied trend..

[marie glen]

Can we expect a literal paradise? -- And would it be paradise if one half to two thirds of humanity were being painfully tormented forever and ever..? How did such a GENIUS creator get to be so horribly under estimated?! It's quite absurd really.. ..that error can so often become very widely strongly held.. great waves and trends.. Even popular. Our only safety (rule/ruler/measure of truth)? God's Word, His message - AS WRITTEN, lol.. God save us from human opinions! :laughing7:
   :Peace2:

[jugghead]

God save us from human opinions!

Amen MG, Just wanted to share what I wrote to myself, but thought it fit with your last line

Salvation

What is salvation? According to dictionary.com., the definition of salvation is this:

ONE: The act of saving or protecting from harm, risk, loss, destruction, etc.
TWO: The state of being saved or protected from harm, risk, etc.
THREE: A source, cause, or means of being saved or protected from harm, risk, etc.
FOUR: "Theology"; deliverance from the power and penalty of sin; redemption

I do not want to take away anything from any one of these definitions, and the reason I say that is because: I believe that they are all equally important in understanding what "salvation" is. The first thing I would like to point out is this: that "salvation" is defined as many things, not just these four definitions. What I mean by this is seeing how "salvation" is defined within these four definitions. That:

"salvation" is "an act",
"salvation" is "a state",
"salvation" is "a source",
"salvation" is "a cause",
"salvation" is "a means",
"salvation" is "deliverance",
"salvation" is "redemption".

So, now I ask the question: Can "salvation" be defined in only "one way"? The answer to that is Yes and no. No, because "salvation" can be described as many things; and Yes, because all of these things describe Christ, because Christ IS our salvation.

The next thing I would like to point out is the differences in these definitions. And what I mean by that is this:

With definition "ONE"; The act of saving or protecting from harm, risk, loss, destruction, etc., we can see that this definition is describing "an action", understood by the word "act", which is also understood as "a process". That "the act of saving" is "a process of saving".

With definition "TWO"; The state of being saved or protected from harm, risk, etc., we can see that this definition is describing "an end result", understood by the word "state", because the "state of being saved" is the end result of the action of "saving".

With definition "THREE"; A source, cause, or means of being saved or protected from harm, risk, etc., And with this definition, do we understand the differences between the three words; "source", "cause" and "means"?

What I mean by that is:

the word "source" describes "what it is"
the word "cause" describes "an action of the source"
the word "means" describes "an action of the source to an end result"

One of the biggest questions I have always had is: if two words have the exact same meaning, why two different words? The conclusion I was shown in this is: if two words look different but have the exact same meaning, the result can cause confusion. But what is even worse and causes the most confusion, is when one word can mean more than one thing; and what causes the most confusion is when one word can mean MANY things.

What I believe the nature of man is; the nature of man is "confusion" itself and by that, it is the "cause" of confusion, simply because, if one word can have many meanings, the nature of man can twist anything to mean anything it wants and it will do so to get the result it desires. And to understand that "confusion" is the state of our beginning when it comes to understanding God, the nature of man can twist the Scriptures to make God into anything it desires. And the biggest thing about this is, it doesn't even realize it is doing it.

It isn't until God Himself separates our spirit from the spirit of confusion, which can also be understood as "the spirit of the world", can He begin the process, the act of saving us from that confusion. And now going back to the first definition of "salvation":

The act of saving or protecting from harm, risk, loss, destruction, etc.,

That God Himself through His Spirit is the act (action) of SAVING us from the harm of confusion, SAVING us from the risk of confusion, SAVING us from the loss of clarity, SAVING us from the destruction of clarity.

AND

That God Himself through His Spirit is the act (action) of PROTECTING us from the harm of confusion, PROTECTING us from the risk of confusion, PROTECTING us from the loss of clarity, PROTECTING us from the destruction of clarity.

For me:

"clarity" is the nature of God and is the house that God WILL build in us,
WHEREAS
"confusion" is the nature of man and is the house that man CAN build in us.

And both build within their own nature:

God will build within the nature of the Spirit that He is (what Christ gave us and "what we will become" through Him)
AND
man will build within the nature of the flesh that he is (what Adam gave us and "what we have become" through him).

Which I believe is to understand:
"who we were" (a spirit of {belonging to} the flesh from the first Adam) before Jesus was sent to this earth, under the covenant of law
AND
"who we will become" (a spirit of {belonging to} the Spirit from the last Adam) after Jesus left this earth, under the covenant of grace

If we do not even understand the slight differences of words within our own language, how can we even come close to understanding the slight differences of words within God's language?

[marie glen]

I think you are right on.. confusion as the forehead and psyche of the world!
Empire, with other than God (who is love) on the throne. It's why Revelation says that "mystery babylon" which I call mystery babble, is responsible for all slain on earth. It's the title of Babylon (the great empire of man). But more than that it's the psyche of man's empire. And empires. And mystery babble  — confusion is the cause of all slain upon Earth!

But one day there shall be one language - literal. But as metaphor I believe, refers to Truth/God's Word. One day it won't be this person's lofty thoughts and that person's lofty thoughts filling the ether.. but all will know truth, all speaking the same language.

Thank you! I 'worry' a lot about the babble of voices seekers of truth, and seekers of God have to wade through.. If they are searching in the churches :doh: or if they are seeking on the web. :gsmile:

But no worries.. He is able. Rev. chapter 7 - two crowds of folks - two, because one is numbered/counted and the other is too-many-to count - are "sealed on their forehead" ..the clarity?

So there ya go again.. the two minds.. psyches.. or foreheads.. confusion, and clarity. {We're all a blend right now! :laughing7: ...need as much "washing of the mind with the water of the Word" as we can digest. I've gotten to thinking of the NT as our loaf of daily bread. :gsmile:

"God is the savior - is the salvation - of all"!
:thumbsup:

[Ross]

But one day there shall be one language - literal. But as metaphor I believe, refers to Truth/God’s Word. One day it won’t be this person’s lofty thoughts and that person’s lofty thoughts filling the ether.. but all will know truth, all speaking the same language.

Babel over-ride/delete.

So there ya go again.. the two minds.. psyches.. or foreheads.. confusion, and clarity.

The two will become one.
Interestingly referred to about marriage where the man leaves the earthly parents, just like the spirit has different Father.
Also pointing out how the Jew and the Gentile will become one.
Full repentance will dispose of the clashes. God's work not mans' so that no one can take credit above anyone else - true equality.

Why we are told not to be conformed, but transformed.
Jesus started the process by telling the people to repent.
Interesting that when something is "pent" up that something is of one focus, completely bottled up;
so "repent" is putting us totally on the right stuff, figuratively applicable to all man in their allotted time.
Just muddling along there.