Those Who Have Been “Walking” in “Darkness” Have Seen a Great “Light”

Excerpt From Newsletter

The question your subscriber asked concerning the true nature of Jesus Christ is based on a simple misunderstanding of: (1) the nature of “the sin” that Adam and Eve committed, and (2) the manner in which we inherit the “sinful nature” of Adam. That fact should already be obvious to those who have read the series of articles I have written about “law” and “the Law” over the years. [See “We Know the Law Is Holy. But What About the Commandment?” The Voice of Elijah^®, July 1998; “There Is Nothing More Amazing Than Dead Men Walking (in ‘The Way’),” The Voice of Elijah^®, January 2000; “‘The Law’ of This, ‘The Law’ of That, So Much ‘law’ One Can’t Keep Track,” The Voice of Elijah^®, April 2001; “Two Agreements Made: One a ‘Covenant,’ the Other a ‘Testament,’” The Voice of Elijah^®, January 2002; and “Only a Fool Would Keep Working When There Is Nothing Left to Do,” The Voice of Elijah^®, July 2004.] If “the sin” of Adam and Eve was their decision to believe Satan’s lie and “the transgression” they committed was the disobedient act they performed as a result of their belief in Satan’s lie, then our every “transgression”—and all our “sin” in general—must somehow stem from our belief in a lie. That is precisely what Jesus had in mind when He said this:

Then some of the Pharisees and scribes come to Jesus from Jerusalem, saying: “Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat bread.” But answering, He said to them: “And why do you transgress the commandment of the {Living} God because of your tradition? For the {Living} God said, ‘honor the father and the mother’ and ‘let whoever speaks evil of father or mother come to an end in death.’ But you say, ‘Anyone may say to the father or the mother, “Whatever by which you could have been helped is an offering from me.”’ He will not honor his father {or his mother}; and you nullify the word of the {Living} God because of your tradition. Hypocrites! Isaiah correctly prophesied concerning you, saying:
‘This people, with the lips, honors me;
But their heart is far from me.
And they worship me in vain,
Teaching teachings—precepts of men.’”
And summoning the crowd, He said to them, “Listen, and put {it} together: What goes into the mouth does not defile the man, but what comes out from the mouth—this defiles the man.” Then His disciples, coming, say, to Him, “Did You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard the word?” But answering, He said: “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. Let them go! They are blind guides {of the blind}. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” But Peter, answering, said to Him, “Explain the parable to us.” And He said: “Are you still ignorant? Don’t you understand that everything that goes into the mouth makes room in the stomach and is eliminated in the toilet? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart; and those things defile ‘the man.’ For from the heart come bad thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immorality, stealing, false witness, slanders. These are the things that defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”
(Matthew 15:1–20) —my interim translation

Questions & Answers,” The Voice of Elijah^®, October 2007, pp. 19–20

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