Kingdom Come

There is a common teaching that there are different ways of being saved from eternal damnation during different eras of time with

1. works of obedience to the law and sacrifice in the Old Testament required for pre-Christian salvation
2. and work-free gift of grace for Christians.

If we stick with a hermeneutical analysis of the Bible we see that there has always been just one way of being saved from sin and its consequences.

Put your faith in the word of YHVH Creator.

Whoa! What about the clear statements in the New Testament, such as:

“by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:10-12)

Doesn’t that make Christianity an exclusive club?

Not if we understand and apply the etymology of the name “Jesus Christ” and what Jesus clearly stated as being the way “unto the Father”.

• The name Jesus is an Anglicized / English form of the
• Latin / Roman name Iesus, which is in turn a Latinized form of the
• Greek name Ἰησοῦς (Iēsoũs), which is, in turn, a Hellenized form of Jesus’s original name in
• Aramaic, which was יֵשׁוּעַ (yēšūă‘), a shortened form of the earlier
• Hebrew name יְהוֹשֻׁעַ (y’hoshuaʿ),

which means “Yahweh is Salvation.”

So the name “Jesus Christ” saves because it is “the name of the Lord.”

Confirmed on the day of Pentecost when Peter preached: “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:16-21)

Y’hoshua, translated into English as Joshua, was the Chosen One to succeed Moses into leading the nation of Israel into the Promised Land. Consequently, yēšūă‘ was one of the most common male given names in Judaea and Galilee during the early part of the first century CE when Jesus was alive.

The name Isaiah consists of the same two elements (יהו- שע), just in reverse order,  יְשַׁעְ- יָה also meaning Yah is Salvation.

Jesus himself and his disciples relied on Isaiah’s prophecies to validate him as the ultimate YHVH’s Savior.

This should cause us to understand that our faith rests on the manifestation of YHVH / Immortal Creator however he chooses, not on a religious creed.

This is the problem with teaching isolated verses to children in Sunday School without ever connecting the dots as adults. 

“Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.” (Isaiah 44:22-23)

Jesus doesn’t save anyone by himself. Only as YHVH’s agent.

Christianity doesn’t seem to accept the irrefutable logic presented in scripture that

• just as every human was negatively affected by Adam’s sin whether or not they know about Adam,
• so every human is positively affected by Jesus Christ’s redemption whether or not they ever heard about what he did. 

It is only in the future that all humanity will come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

1. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name / attributes, characteristic which is above every name.
   1. That at the name of YYHV’s Savior / Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 
   2. And that every tongue should confess that YHVH’s Promised Savior / Jesus Christ is Lord [Is granted dominion over earth according to the terms of the covenant to give dominion to man (Genesis 1:26)],
   3. to the glory / praiseworthiness of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11)

This explanation in the New Testament makes no sense whatsoever unless we reference back to the very beginning of scripture describing

• the serpent’s incitement of rebellion by one human against the Creator to wreck his choice of mankind to inherit the earth in God’s image and likeness,
• repaired by one human through his equal and opposite reaction of submission to God’s will.

This is the explanation of: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)

Scripture emphatically states that

• simply asking Jesus to give you eternal life doesn’t make that happen, 
• nor does failing to ask Jesus to save you from your sins. 

It is 100% up to God’s judgment on your attitude towards HIM, based on your acknowledgment of him as Creator, Sustainer and Renewer of life apparent to everyone from nature itself, regardless of access to the Bible or upbringing in any particular religion.

“the judgment of God is according to truth…

Who will render to every man according to his deeds:

1. To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:
2. But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil…

For there is no respect of persons with God. For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;

1. (For not the hearers of the law are just before God,
   1. but the doers of the law shall be justified.

For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these…shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men. (Romans 2:2-16)

So simply reciting a creed asking Jesus to save you from your sin then going about your life doing whatever you want sure that you’ll escape the consequence of sin doesn’t fly with God. That should be obvious from what we see of suffering the consequences of sin in this life.

Four primary functions of law.

Laws serve to protect people from evil. Every society has individuals willing to harm others. Law creates a framework for reducing crime. First, it lays out the nature of proper and improper human conduct. It proscribes punishment for delinquency as a deterrent, and establishes the creation of enforcement mechanisms, such as police, that both prevent crime and enact punitive measures.

Law also promotes the common good. Humans tend to act out of self-interest. However, there are cases in which everyone benefits by pursuing a common interest and working together in cooperation. Anti-pollution laws, for instance, limit peoples’ freedom to dispose of waste as they please to promote the common good of a clean environment and resultant health benefits.

Laws provide for the peaceful resolution of disputes. Without legal processes for settling differences, people would act against one another in aggression. Laws create peaceful processes for conflict resolution through the court system.

Laws and rules help people develop good behavior. Often, people initially obey rules due to fear of punishment. However, consistent behavior causes them to internalize lawful conduct and eventually do it, even when they are not being watched.

I’m fairly certain that the home quarantine conditions under COVID 19 convinced a lot of parents that they need to establish and enforce household rules to prevent strong-willed children from damaging the structural integrity of the environment and the physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing of the entire household.

With this in mind, can we understand the following explanation of the purpose for creating laws?  Without a law to break, there is no proof that someone who committed a certain act is guilty, and no legal basis to restrict that person from preventing further harm to society.

^“by the law / establishment of what is unlawful is the knowledge of sin / wrong-doing.” (Romans 3:20)

It is obvious that lack of knowledge that something is a sin / wrongdoing causes harm even when people act out of ignorance. Before there was a law requiring parents to put small children in car seats, don’t you think that fatal consequences occurred from being unrestrained? But since parents weren’t held legally liable, there was no punishment for failure to safeguard their children, ergo no incentive to do so, and most importantly – no general awareness of the importance of doing so.

“And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it…And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works…And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:11-15S

Since every human’s eternal destiny is determined on the basis of our works, and since Jesus was sinless in behavior, death could not be applied in judgment to him.

Instead, it was able to be applied judicially to the consequence of the clone of Adam’s sin, both of which have been passed down to all humanity in her Seed.

“all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ…To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them…

• For he hath made him
  • to be sin for us, who knew no sin;
• that we [sinners] might be made
  • the righteousness of God in him.” (II Corinthians 5:18-21)

So simply calling on the name “Jesus Christ” itself is not a means of salvation.

“Ye must be born again.” (John 3:7)