A letter from Bimmy in response to our latest series about the faith of Christ, versus religion called by His Name:
“God is not a limited individual who sits alone up in the clouds on a golden throne. God is pure Consciousness that dwells within everything. Understanding this truth, learn to accept and love everyone equally.” – Amma
Paul wrote back:
Christ is the exact opposite of an aloof God, sitting “alone up in the clouds on a golden throne.” God came in the flesh, as a man, and dwelt among us. He humbled Himself even unto death, being offered up as the perfect sacrifice for our sins, to reconcile us to God. Our God is both near, and all-powerful. He took on the same flesh that we have, so that He could sanctify us to become His brethren. He submitted to the restrictions and temptations that we all face, without sin, leading to an unjust death, by which He overcame and was made Lord of all by the resurrection from the dead. Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. By Him we live, and speak, here on earth among men, sharing in this present duress with a sure hope by the Word of Life.
Proverbs 2:1-22
(1) My son, if you will receive my words and hide my commandments with you,
(2) So that you attend to wisdom, you shall extend your heart to understanding;
(3) Yea, if you cry after knowledge and lift up your voice for understanding;
(4) If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures,
(5) Then you shall understand the fear of Jehovah and find the knowledge of God.
(6) For Jehovah gives wisdom; out of His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
(7) He lays up sound wisdom for the righteous; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly.
(8) He keeps the paths of judgment, and guards the way of His saints.
(9) Then you shall understand righteousness and judgment and honesty, every good path.
(10) When wisdom enters into your heart, and knowledge is pleasing to your soul;
(11) Judgment shall keep you, understanding shall keep you,
(12) To deliver you from the way of the evil man, from the man who speaks wicked things;
(13) Those who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness,
(14) Who rejoice to do evil and delight in the perversities of the wicked;
(15) Whose ways are crooked, and are devious in their paths.
(16) They will deliver you from the strange woman, the stranger who flatters with her words,
(17) Who forsakes the guide of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God.
(18) For her house bows down to death, and her paths to the dead.
(19) All who go in to her do not return, nor do they take hold of the paths of life,
(20) In order that you may walk in the way of good and keep the paths of the righteous.
(21) For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.
(22) But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.
Bimmy wrote back the following:
Paul, it is naive to think there is your god or my god. There is only one god and one universal truth. The differences in religions are due to man’s EGO which is always seeking to say one persona is better than the together or one religion is better than the other. In reality and in truth it is not, but I am certain one can argue this point until the cows come home. It is easy to hide behind the words of the bible yet not fully understand and/or following it.
It is also naïve to think there is only one path to God. It is like saying there is only one road to DC. God created all of us equally and hence one’s mind should be OPEN to accept and understand all faiths as they lead to the same objective which is “seek thee first the kingdom of God” meaning your first and foremost duty is to seek and know God.
Christ is one of the many Saints who walked the planet and was a living example and a representation of God. He is only a path to God. If all Christians lived as Christ did, then we won’t have many of these wars and disharmonies that we see today.
To protect the Christian Church in the early 300 AD the complete text of the bible were destroyed and the Church deliberately removed two books from the bible in an attempt to keep the masses ignorant. They began to enforce in the preaching and churches that we are all sinners, satanic worshippers and dwellers, heretics, blasphemous etc etc. This was done to instill fear in people so that the church can control the masses. We see that happening today as well as one feels righteous when preaching their negative untruths from a pulpit.
God is love and everything God created is Good. Evil is Good going in the opposite direction.
If Christians were serious about living like Christ did, these are the qualities that one should cultivate. Being humble, forgiving, in selfless service to humanity, peaceful, abundant, silent in meditation, loving all people, respect all, being generous, being receptive. What can one learn from the good Samaritan? Why did Jesus wash the feet of his disciples? Why did he heal the sick and give refuge to the outcast? It is not the responsibility of a Christian to be the savior of non-Christians. God is already on that job, doing a much better job that any human Christian can or ever will.
Each and everyone has a responsibility to seek his/her own truth and seek God through that truth.
Hope this sheds a broader perspective.
Bimmy
Paul’s response:
Hi Bimmy,
Why is it naive to believe that God is a certain way? Just like a human being is unique, why not the Creator, in Whose image men are made? And why cannot God speak, on the record, for our sakes? Is it not presumptuous of you to exclude Him from doing so, or to disregard what He has said? And why would it be naive to say that not all claims of various religions are in accordance with God, as He has revealed and made Himself known, especially when these claims are contradictions that cannot be reconciled?
Would you want people guessing about what you thought about your work with the environment, for example? Would it be OK with you that various people misrepresented you, whether through ignorance, or perfidy, and did contrary to what you teach is good for the environment? Would you endorse the saying that “all roads lead to DC,” and everything will be OK taking whatever route one would wish to take? The corporate/consumerist model of minimal regulation and maximum profit is as good as any?
You say there is one universal God and truth. I agree, and more importantly, so does God. So if there is only one God, and one truth, how can you say that the differences in religions are due to ego? If there is only one God, then there is only one representation that is true. Other representations would have to be in error. The true representation would not be a matter of ego, or opinion, or interpretation, but would be His manifestation and declaration of Himself. It would be the false representations that come from man’s ego that bring the strife. Why would you throw the baby out with the bath water? Is it naive to believe there is a right way, which God Himself has made clear for us, or is it simply foolish not to believe that?
There is only one possible combination of DNA, of the many billions of possibilities, that will make a man, or a tree, or a cow. You cannot change one particle and still have a man, or a cow. There is also only one God, Who cannot be represented any way men choose, or even represented at all by men, but is Who He is and What He is, and it is not possible that He is one iota any different, whatever we might conjecture or wish. And while we may study DNA, and arrive at a structure, we cannot put God under a microscope to study Him and do the same. He is well beyond our senses and abilities, although He has given us plain reason by which we can know certain things that are true. However, we can only know Him as He chooses to reveal Himself to us, which must happen individually. You must know Him for yourself, by His power and revelation to you. And if you do know Him, it will be the same God that I know, and not another, because there is only one God, as you said. We speak words of life that will bring you and others to know Him, just as seeds of apples bring apple trees.
It is not a matter of one religion being better than another in presenting the Person and will of God, but that there is one Reality, which is God Himself, and all men’s presentations are false. This too, is not naive, but self-evident, for those given light to see, and the grace to forsake their own egos to admit that God is not whatever men want Him to be, or make Him out to be, but what He is, and says He is. To insist that there are many paths to God is naive, or worse yet, willful ignorance.
The problem here is that you think we are preaching a religion. In these latest series of “The Issues of Life,” we have at length pointed out that we are NOT preaching a religion, but rather the Lord Jesus Christ, against man’s religion that has appropriated His Name without His power.
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away” (2 Timothy 3:1-5).
“Christianity” is a religion of men, but Jesus Christ is God come in the flesh. That is Whom we preach, which has nothing to do with joining a religion, or mouthing a dogma, even if the dogma consists of true doctrines. Jesus Christ is life, not religion; reality, not religion; walking, not talking.
“Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their afflictions, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27).
God is not a religion, but revealed and made real to us in Christ. He, Jesus Christ, is the express image of God, and our only way to God. No flesh can attain to God, but God attained us in Jesus Christ. We cannot emulate Christ, as you suggest. Rather we need to come to the place where we know that we cannot be as He is, but where we enter into His victory by which He overcame the world for us, as we follow His lead in paths of righteousness. He is our rightful Lord, and Savior, Whom we should follow and obey. Then we will walk in the perfect will of God, having peace with Him and each other.
Jesus Christ is more than a saint who walked the earth. He is God. No other person has been God. No other person proved divinity as Jesus Christ did, Who was raised from the dead, appearing to many people in His resurrected body, and now appearing to us by His Spirit. God is a Spirit. Jesus Christ rules over all realms, and has the keys to hell and death. By Him we are sent to preach the good news of reconciliation, by which Christ has forgiven us our sins, and thereby has liberated us from the religions of man, the destruction of lies, and the bondage of self-righteousness.
If it sounds like we are saying that all people are wrong, that is correct. It is not we, but God Who determined to work things this way. It is not an out-of-control situation, but the righteous judgment of God at work.
“For God has shut up all in unbelief, so that He might show mercy to all. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? Or who first gave to Him, and it will be repaid to him? For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things; to Him be glory forever! Amen” (Romans 11:32-36).
Yes men have wanted to control the world, whatever their religion. Some may have renounced trying to do so (at least in theory), like monks of various religions and times, but in the end it is the corrupt nature of mankind that spoils the day. This nature cannot be changed or suppressed or glossed over. It will and has prevailed to bring death and destruction, as all have witnessed over many millennia. Jesus Christ is the Answer for everyone and everything. God has testified to this, from before His time (on earth in the flesh), and now after. He revealed Himself to Abraham, and tested him with the offering up of his son Isaac. God showed that there would be a sacrifice of His Son, to reveal His heart towards us (and ours to ourselves!), as Abraham’s heart was revealed (though not to God, for He already knew it). No other god has provided life for us, Bimmy. Only God in Christ has. All of us are sinners that not only deserve death, but which labor in it all the time without even knowing what life is.
When you find out what you have been like, the condition you have been in, and what God has provided for you in Christ to remove this curse from you, you will be glad to shout from the rooftops that you have been a sinner, redeemed by God, and that all flesh is corrupt, glory to God.
This rumor about the Bible being re-tooled in 300 AD is sheer nonsense, a lie propagated by ignorance and wishful thinking. The Bible is a spiritual book, and as we have also been discussing lately in our letters, one that corrupt man makes play the tunes he likes and wants. I am not saying that there were not religious men that wanted to and did things to suppress the truth. There still are, such as those now telling you this lie you mention. The wolves do come in sheep’s clothing. Satan comes as an angel of light. There are many ways to destruction. There is, however, only one to salvation.
The Bible, God’s record of His words and works with the sons of men, also contradicts what you say about good and evil. When you say God is love, this is true. However, God created the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. He created Satan, who was a liar, it is said, from the beginning (when he was created). He also says by the prophet Isaiah that He creates and does both good and evil.
“I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things” (Isaiah 45:7).
He sends famine, and sword, and pestilence. Evil is simply there for a good purpose, working good, by the will of God, as opposed to men who wish and do evil for evil’s sake, or good for evil’s sake. That is the difference. There is a reason and a place for all that God does in this world, wherein He has concluded all people in unbelief, so that He might have mercy on all. Who can understand the ways of God? In Christ, we do, and praise Him.
Another wonderful declaration of how God has purposed our fallen state, so that we might have hope and appreciation for the better things He has provided in Christ, is as follows:
“For the earnest expectation of the creature waits for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him Who has subjected the same in hope, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now” (Romans 8:19-22).
Truly God’s words and His will revealed present a far broader picture than that which any man paints, don’t you think?
Paul
Victor’s reply to Bimmy’s words (in blue):
"Paul, it is naive to think there is your god or my god. There is only one god and one universal truth."
Hi Bimmy, Victor here. I would like to respond to some of your comments as well. You are right. There is only One God and One Universal Truth, and therefore, the capital “G.” We neither believe nor teach otherwise.
"The differences in religions are due to mans EGO which is always seeking to say one persona is better than the together or one religion is better than the other."
We are not only talking about many religions or their differences but religion per se, resulting from man’s ego. Man hates the thought of accountability to his Creator and thus seeks to maintain his own righteousness, hence, religion (his own way of righteousness). Religion is man trying to make God in his image, while it is all about God creating man in His image. The two are opposites.
"In reality and in truth it is not, but I am certain one can argue this point until the cows come home. It is easy to hide behind the words of the bible yet not fully understand and/or following it."
We are here to tell you that we are not hiding at all, much less “behind the words of the Bible,” as you put it. The Bible was once a hidden book to us, but now is revealed to us. God has made Himself known to us and has given us this ministry to tell all the world. We have His Mind, and therefore understand. However, we do not “follow it.” To “follow the Bible” is an act of self-effort, one of self-righteousness, which God condemns. We are in Him, and follow Him. In being and doing so, we live in agreement with the revelation of the Bible.
"It is also naïve to think there is only one path to God. It is like saying there is only one road to DC."
That analogy falls short, Bimmy. You must admit that not ALL roads lead to DC. You must also admit that of those that do, they must be headed in the right direction. We are preaching the direction, “to DC” (let those letters stand for the Deity of Christ). He has declared, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man can come to the Father but by Me.” There are as many religions as there are men, but there are not as many ways to God as there are men, or their philosophies and opinions. God manifest Himself in Jesus Christ to reveal to us the ONE TRUE WAY.
You may argue that it appears men get to DC even if they are headed in opposite directions. Some come from the north, and some from the south, though headed to the same destination. We are teaching that Jesus Christ is the Destination. While God has a “customized” plan for each person, yet the Way and the Destination are one. Furthermore, all those who travel that way to that destination, are spiritually and essentially traveling in the very same direction, which Jesus Christ is…the Truth. They are in agreement. As the Bible teaches, they are of one mind and one heart.
The Bible also testifies that while the work began with the Jews, the direct descendants of Abraham, it would extend to all the earth, to all Gentiles. That means that the Gentiles did not, and DO NOT have the answer without Jesus Christ. All religions, including “Christianity,” are vain and hopeless. Jesus Christ is the Only Hope for ALL of mankind. Believe it; it is true.
"God created all of us equally and hence one’s mind should be OPEN to accept and understand all faiths as they lead to the same objective which is ‘seek thee first the kingdom of God’ meaning your first and foremost duty is to seek and know God."
First, man’s mind in the natural state is closed, in darkness, until Jesus Christ brings light. As it is written:
“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4 MKJV).
Second, while there are “many faiths,” there is only ONE faith in God, His gift to us. What you are referring to is religions, men’s faith in religious systems, works and doctrines, but we refer to God Himself.
Third, once we receive and understand the Truth, it is not hard to understand all else, including the nature and purpose of “all faiths.” We see through them.
Fourth, religions do not at all have the objective of seeking first the Kingdom of God. Their objective, as I have already explained in other terms, is to build their own kingdoms, denying the Kingdom of God. Religion says, “I will find my own way to God; I will do it MY way!” God, in Jesus Christ, has said, “There is only ONE way; that is MINE, and none other is acceptable.” And why should that not be true? If God has HIS preference, with HIS creation, who can argue? But men argue because they are proud. You called it “ego.”
"Christ is one of the many Saints who walked the planet and was a living example and a representation of God. He is only a path to God."
As I have said, and as the Bible teaches, Jesus Christ is not merely “‘a’ living example and ‘a’ representation of God,” or merely “a” path to Him, but very God in the flesh. That could not be said of any other person as it is of Him.
Saints are all those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. He was more than a saint. He was the Origin, Essence and Object of sainthood.
"If all Christians lived as Christ did, then we won’t have many of these wars and disharmonies that we see today."
I am not speaking of all those whom the Catholic Church or any other religion calls saints. If all Christians lived as did Christ, there could well be more wars and disharmonies, not less. He Himself said so:
“The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its works are evil” (John 7:7 MKJV).
And: “Blessed are you when men shall hate you, and when they shall cut you off, and when they shall reproach you and shall cast out your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy. For behold, your reward is great in Heaven. For so their fathers did according to these things to the prophets” (Luke 6:22-23 MKJV).
And: “You will be hated of all men for My name’s sake, but the one who endures to the end shall be kept safe. But when they persecute you in this city, flee into another; for truly I say to you, In no way shall you have finished the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes. A disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he is like his master, and the servant like his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more those of his household?” (Matthew 10:22-25 MKJV)
"To protect the Christian Church in the early 300 AD the complete text of the bible were destroyed and the Church deliberately removed two books from the bible in an attempt to keep the masses ignorant."
You believe an unsubstantiated notion, Bimmy, told you by others who believe lies. However, if you can provide sure evidence to these assertions, we would be more than willing to examine it. We have and prefer nothing but the Truth, so we are not intimidated or biased.
"They began to enforce in the preaching and churches that we are all sinners, satanic worshippers and dwellers, heretics, blasphemous etc etc. This was done to instill fear in people so that the church can control the masses. We see that happening today as well as one feels righteous when preaching their negative untruths from a pulpit."
There is no question that both lies and truths have been preached from many pulpits, from the beginning, out of self-righteousness, and for evil purposes. However, true disciples of Christ have well known the depravity of man, beginning with knowing their own when delivered of it, for only when delivered from that depravity were they able to see it for what it was. That will also happen to you when your time comes. We are all guilty before God, and He has manifested Himself in Jesus Christ to remove the guilt, which only He can. We have been delivered of that depravity and unburdened of our guilt. Knowing the blessing of God, we freely share that which was freely given us.
"God is love and everything God created is Good. Evil is Good going in the opposite direction."
Paul explained, and I have explained God’s and man’s purpose of good and evil.
"If Christians were serious about living like Christ did these are the qualities that one should cultivate. Being humble, forgiving, in selfless service to humanity, peaceful, abundant, silent in meditation, loving all people, respect all, being generous, being receptive."
Bimmy, I tried to live that way and failed until Jesus Christ came to me, took over my life, and made such a life possible. Read Our Testimonies for more. He is the only One able. We are not. When our lives are surrendered to Him, then and only then is it possible to have virtue of any kind. Believe it. Admit that you do not have that exemplary life you describe here. If you cannot admit to it, you are living a delusion. Jesus said so, as did all His disciples, as do we.
"What can one learn from the good Samaritan? Why did Jesus wash the feet of his disciples? Why did he heal the sick and give refuge to the outcast?"
Those were the Lord’s parables of what is required and what He gives as our Savior when His salvation comes to us. Bimmy, He came primarily to lay down His life for us. If He had come only to be an example, He could and would have remained much longer, to influence many more. He did not come to give us something to emulate. He came to redeem us from the absolute impossibility of emulating Him. He came to let us know what was good, right, and true, and to give His life so that we could be transformed, through the One, True Faith in Him, to make His life a reality in each of us. There is no other way, as virtuous or pious as other ways may at first appear.
"It is not the responsibility of a Christian to be the savior of non-Christians. God is already on that job doing a much better job that any human Christian can or ever will."
You greatly err here, not having known the Lord, and being quite in the dark about His teachings. He has certainly commissioned His disciples to bring salvation to the rest of the world. The Bible is a comprehensive testimony of that very fact. That is why, for example, He chose and prepared His twelve disciples, one of whom was predetermined to betray Him to His necessary and appointed death for our sakes, and to be replaced by another to complete the twelve. It is written:
“And Jesus came and spoke to them (days after His resurrection from the dead), saying, All authority is given to Me in Heaven and in earth. Therefore go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things, whatever I commanded you. And, behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the world. Amen” (Matthew 28:18-20 MKJV).
"Each and everyone has a responsibility to seek his/her own truth and seek God through that truth.
Hope this sheds a broader perspective.
Bimmy"
Indeed, we all have that responsibility, but what man can fulfill it? Not one! As Jesus writes it, through His prophets and apostle:
“There is none righteous, no not one; there is none that understands, there is none that seeks after God. They are all gone out of the way, they have together become unprofitable, there is none that does good, no, not one” (Romans 3:10-12 MKJV).
And He (Jesus) said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God” (Luke 18:27 MKJV).
Bimmy, thank you for writing, and for expressing yourself. Yes, you did not agree with what we were teaching, but that is okay. We have this opportunity to share and to learn. It is good.
Victor