Trying to make bread without flour
Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2015 6:18 am
(This is an archived correspondence at The Path of Truth. We have sent notification to the correspondent.)
Dear Paul & Victor,
I hope I find you well.
I just wanted to write to express my gratitude to you (and yes, as I'm sure you'll point-out, it is far more appropriate to express my gratitude to YHVH for you - which believe me, I have done) for your excellent ministry. In recent days it has been a constant source of a much-needed challenge \ wake-up call in my life.
I ought to introduce myself. My name is Rich, I first begun to understand something of YHVH's truth just over three years ago, and have been learning more and more about Him in the intervening time. I came to know about Yehoshua ha'mashiycha very quickly and came to know that He alone was my hope, and that apart from Him I had nothing. I think that you could say that I knew that as well as I do now by June 2012. You'll notice that I said "know about", because that was, and to a fair extent still is, all I do - if I claimed "I know Him" right now that'd be a lie.
I first encountered your website perhaps 6 months ago, and was immediately struck by the wealth of knowledge which you both have, as well as your perseverance in the face of and proper reaction to adversity. It was no surprise to read the opprobrium which your opponents have thrown at you - I had experienced much of it towards many of those from whom I had learned previously. People who love falsehood rarely like to be confronted with the truth. I rarely particularly enjoy it when it confronts beliefs which I had previously held tenaciously, but I praise God that He has permitted me to have a longing for truth which generally outdoes that before too long.
Anyway, by the time I first read your website I had already learned of many of the truths which you preach - about the importance of good diet and the difficulty of achieving it (I understood that a while before I came to know of Christ); about Christ as the lone Saviour; about the impossibility that works can save us; about the fact that God still speaks and works through His servants; that the notion that God intends to burn anyone forevermore, and that this leg of life is the only chance to acquire a saving faith, are despicable lies; about the importance of turning from sin IMMEDIATELY rather than merely "getting to Heaven after we die"; about how wildly mistaken many who think themselves believers are about the relevance of God's law today; about the rank and disgusting hypocrisy of many bands of self-professed believers; and many other things besides.
Yet I have largely remained, to borrow one of your previously-used metaphors, in a state where I have been trying "to make bread without flour". I know many truths - I love logic, which is a powerful tool which God has given to us to use appropriately and which He has seen fit for me to possess in abundance; I read Greek fairly proficiently and can consequently see through many religious traditions which humans have put into translations which are apparent by their absence in the original languages. Yet I have always, in truth, been aware of the fact that I have made little effort to overcome my fleshly desires for adulation of humans, and several other sinful desires. I constantly find myself desiring to preach this truth and be congratulated for it; to see men regard me as intelligent and knowledgeable. In three years, I have never really done long, hard self-reflection and rethought my sinful nature, and submitted myself entirely and completely to God.
At best, I have been dimly aware of these remaining sinful tendencies and have put away some of the easier issues - no more. Why? Because it's very difficult to submit oneself to God fully and completely. I like to know that God will forgive my sins (who doesn't?); I understand that I'm a sinner in need of salvation. And make no mistake, God has changed me already - right up to the months before my conversion, I was an unhindered liar; immediately after my conversion, I found that I was no longer able to lie. Yet it is this matter, of turning COMPLETELY from sinfulness and offering genuine, FULL rethought (repentance), which your writings have challenged me on most in the last few days. I have been forced to confront the fact that God detests sin, and does not take it lightly (which I knew, but it is one thing to know something and another to act on it). "Better" is not good enough for YHVH. It is not OK for me to profess that I want to be a follower of Christ and not to take-up the cross every day, to submit to Him in everything. Yes, God has done His side of the deal, but I must do mine as well. To date, I have done part of it and no more. I have heard directly from God once or twice. Yet I know that there are those who hear Him constantly, and work miracles in the name of Christ constantly.
I intend, in the coming weeks, to spend some serious time seeking God and attempting to buffet myself into true submission to Him. When I manage this (and it is when - God leaves no-one in an unregenerate state forever), in truth it will be for the first time. I have little doubt that God has sent several circumstances across my path the last week - my most recent visit to your website included - which has led me to confront this inadequacy in myself. I praise Him that He shall one day bring all of us into the state of perfection - but I am in no doubt that I myself don't want to wait any longer than I need to wait.
And I thank the two of you for the part which you have played in confronting my unregenerate nature. God wants the best for all of us, and I want the best for myself. But I won't get it for as long as I fail to devote myself fully to Him. I intend to continue to use your ministry to keep myself in line - and, doubtless, to learn on doctrinal matters which I have yet to consider.
May He abundantly use you to spread His truth in future. I hope in my lifetime to see ungodliness in the church and in the world be fought back against. And I hope to play my own part in that, in whatever way He wills.
I also hope that yourselves and myself can combine fruitfully in whatever ways He sets-up for us, in this leg of life and the next. I am privileged to be able to call you my brothers in Christ. And please feel free to use this correspondence on your site in any way you wish.
In Him
Rich
Dear Paul & Victor,
I hope I find you well.
I just wanted to write to express my gratitude to you (and yes, as I'm sure you'll point-out, it is far more appropriate to express my gratitude to YHVH for you - which believe me, I have done) for your excellent ministry. In recent days it has been a constant source of a much-needed challenge \ wake-up call in my life.
I ought to introduce myself. My name is Rich, I first begun to understand something of YHVH's truth just over three years ago, and have been learning more and more about Him in the intervening time. I came to know about Yehoshua ha'mashiycha very quickly and came to know that He alone was my hope, and that apart from Him I had nothing. I think that you could say that I knew that as well as I do now by June 2012. You'll notice that I said "know about", because that was, and to a fair extent still is, all I do - if I claimed "I know Him" right now that'd be a lie.
I first encountered your website perhaps 6 months ago, and was immediately struck by the wealth of knowledge which you both have, as well as your perseverance in the face of and proper reaction to adversity. It was no surprise to read the opprobrium which your opponents have thrown at you - I had experienced much of it towards many of those from whom I had learned previously. People who love falsehood rarely like to be confronted with the truth. I rarely particularly enjoy it when it confronts beliefs which I had previously held tenaciously, but I praise God that He has permitted me to have a longing for truth which generally outdoes that before too long.
Anyway, by the time I first read your website I had already learned of many of the truths which you preach - about the importance of good diet and the difficulty of achieving it (I understood that a while before I came to know of Christ); about Christ as the lone Saviour; about the impossibility that works can save us; about the fact that God still speaks and works through His servants; that the notion that God intends to burn anyone forevermore, and that this leg of life is the only chance to acquire a saving faith, are despicable lies; about the importance of turning from sin IMMEDIATELY rather than merely "getting to Heaven after we die"; about how wildly mistaken many who think themselves believers are about the relevance of God's law today; about the rank and disgusting hypocrisy of many bands of self-professed believers; and many other things besides.
Yet I have largely remained, to borrow one of your previously-used metaphors, in a state where I have been trying "to make bread without flour". I know many truths - I love logic, which is a powerful tool which God has given to us to use appropriately and which He has seen fit for me to possess in abundance; I read Greek fairly proficiently and can consequently see through many religious traditions which humans have put into translations which are apparent by their absence in the original languages. Yet I have always, in truth, been aware of the fact that I have made little effort to overcome my fleshly desires for adulation of humans, and several other sinful desires. I constantly find myself desiring to preach this truth and be congratulated for it; to see men regard me as intelligent and knowledgeable. In three years, I have never really done long, hard self-reflection and rethought my sinful nature, and submitted myself entirely and completely to God.
At best, I have been dimly aware of these remaining sinful tendencies and have put away some of the easier issues - no more. Why? Because it's very difficult to submit oneself to God fully and completely. I like to know that God will forgive my sins (who doesn't?); I understand that I'm a sinner in need of salvation. And make no mistake, God has changed me already - right up to the months before my conversion, I was an unhindered liar; immediately after my conversion, I found that I was no longer able to lie. Yet it is this matter, of turning COMPLETELY from sinfulness and offering genuine, FULL rethought (repentance), which your writings have challenged me on most in the last few days. I have been forced to confront the fact that God detests sin, and does not take it lightly (which I knew, but it is one thing to know something and another to act on it). "Better" is not good enough for YHVH. It is not OK for me to profess that I want to be a follower of Christ and not to take-up the cross every day, to submit to Him in everything. Yes, God has done His side of the deal, but I must do mine as well. To date, I have done part of it and no more. I have heard directly from God once or twice. Yet I know that there are those who hear Him constantly, and work miracles in the name of Christ constantly.
I intend, in the coming weeks, to spend some serious time seeking God and attempting to buffet myself into true submission to Him. When I manage this (and it is when - God leaves no-one in an unregenerate state forever), in truth it will be for the first time. I have little doubt that God has sent several circumstances across my path the last week - my most recent visit to your website included - which has led me to confront this inadequacy in myself. I praise Him that He shall one day bring all of us into the state of perfection - but I am in no doubt that I myself don't want to wait any longer than I need to wait.
And I thank the two of you for the part which you have played in confronting my unregenerate nature. God wants the best for all of us, and I want the best for myself. But I won't get it for as long as I fail to devote myself fully to Him. I intend to continue to use your ministry to keep myself in line - and, doubtless, to learn on doctrinal matters which I have yet to consider.
May He abundantly use you to spread His truth in future. I hope in my lifetime to see ungodliness in the church and in the world be fought back against. And I hope to play my own part in that, in whatever way He wills.
I also hope that yourselves and myself can combine fruitfully in whatever ways He sets-up for us, in this leg of life and the next. I am privileged to be able to call you my brothers in Christ. And please feel free to use this correspondence on your site in any way you wish.
In Him
Rich