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my life 4 jesus
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“HAVE NO FELLOWSHIP WITH THE UNFRUITFUL WORKS OF DARKNESS, BUT RATHER EXPOSE THEM. FOR IT IS SHAMEFUL EVEN TO SPEAK OF THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE DONE BY THEM IN SECRET.” (Eph. 5:11-12.)
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“As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these would compel you to be circumcised, [or keep certain parts of the OT’s ceremonial or ritual law,] only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. For not even those who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised, [or turn away from Christ to go back to the OT covenant, the law,] that they may boast in your flesh. But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new [BORN AGAIN] creation. And as many as walk according to THIS rule, peace and mercy be upon then, and upon the [spiritual] Israel of God.” (Gal. 6:12-15.) |
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COURTESY, NOW UNBANNED PUBLICATIONS C.C. |
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Old Apostolic Church — Revised Discussion By Renette Vermeulen; courtesy, Now Unbanned Publications c.c. Back to the Original discussion in our Main Domain
This is a letter of love, addressed to all the followers of the Old Apostolic Church. Every soul is precious to God, therefore He “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is ONE God and ONE Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, Who gave Himself a ransom for all,” (1 Tim. 2:4-6.) Speaking the truth in love is the calling of every sincerely born again child of the Living God. For if we truly love Jesus, the salvation and preservation of His blood-bought souls will be an all-consuming passion.
Today, many of the doctrines of the Old Apostolic Church and the New Apostolic Church do not coincide, but both these churches still focus strongly on the mediation of the ‘Chief Apostle’ and his ‘Apostles.’ One should not confuse The Catholic Apostolic Church, the Old Apostolic Church, the New Apostolic Church, as well as the United Apostolic Church with Pentecostal movements such as the Apostolic Faith Mission. Wikipedia online Encyclopedia thus describes the Old Apostolic Church, “The Old [AND NEW] Apostolic Church… [HAS THEIR] historical roots in the Catholic Apostolic Church... The Old [AND NEW] Apostolic Church is part of a branch of Christianity called Irvingism, and is separate from Protestantism... The roots of the OAC [and NAC] are found in the Catholic Apostolic Church, which was founded in 1832 by Drummond, Edward Irving, and others… “[Irving taught that the] church universal was divided into twelve tribes; [THE ‘TWELVE APOSTLE CHURCH,’] for Christendom is considered to be divided into twelve portions or tribes… [THIS TEACHING FATHERED THE SO-CALLED ‘LOST TRIBES’ OF BRITISH AND EUROPEAN ISRAELISM; CHRISTIAN ZIONISM, MESSIANIC JEWISHM, AND THE EVANGELICAL DOCTRINE OF THE END-TIME, ISRAELI-TIMELINE.] “The OAC in South Africa was founded by Carl Klibbe in 1889… The Old Apostolic Church is an exclusivist church and believes that it is the only road to salvation, and do not have any ecumenical relationship with any other churches, or religious organizations. There is no salvation outside [THIS CHURCH,] according to [HER] doctrine and teachings.”
We discuss the following subjects in this article: · ‘Christian’ doctrines of Plato, Freemasonry, ‘saint’ Augustine, Swedenborg and Blake. · From the OAC Catechism: Who can hear the voice of the Chief Apostle? · The doctrines of the Pre-tribulation Rapture, ‘one-man antichrist,’ and the ‘Israeli-timeline’ originated from the masonic book of Catholic/Jesuit priest Lacunza, which was translated and published by Edward Irving in 1827. · The OAC’S ‘Angelic’ ‘Chief Apostle’ is the ‘Christ-gift’ from God, and Old Apostles became the light; Jesus Christ in the flesh. · The Bible is not the source of authority for the OAC – (Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia, “...Chief-apostle Hermann Niehaus did call the Bible 'withered hay and stinking stagnant well water.’”) · Salvation, according to the OAC, can only be out of the ‘Apostle’s’ spoken word. · ‘Heaven’ is inside the ‘spiritual minds’ of the OAC. · The OAC’S concept of hell. · The OAC’S concept of sin. · From the OAC catechism: ‘Who can forgive sin, and how do we receive forgiveness?’ · “[OAC] Salvation is in the substance of Jesus’ human nature,” (Wikipedia.) · “Jesus now resides in the ‘body of Christ;’ (the members of the OAC;)” thus “they have become ‘equal’ to Jesus.” · “Jesus did not rise bodily from the dead,” but spiritually in the ‘spiritual’ minds or souls of OAC members. · “Not physical clouds, but the [spiritual minds of the] members of the OAC are the clouds on whom Jesus has already descended, [AS IN HIS RETURN TO EARTH.]” · OAC baptism is ‘the rite of initiation.’ · “OAC departed attain salvation for their souls after death,” thus, “the OAC offers up prayers for their departed.” – (Wikipedia.) · “The departed dwell in ‘the body of Christ,’ or (in and) among living OAC members.” · “Their sacraments [‘holy communion,’ ‘sealing’ and baptism,] can be administered to the departed,” (Wikipedia.)
BASIC BELIEFS OF PLATO, FREEMASONRY, ‘SAINT’ AUGUSTINE, SWEDENBORG, BLAKE, AND THE OAC: The basic religious thought portrayed through Plato, freemasonry, ‘saint’ Augustine, Swedenborg and Blake, and the OAC as well, does not recognize the Biblical fact that man is a tri-part being, consisting of 1) a human spirit; 2) a human soul, ‘mind’ or, as the Bible calls it, ‘the sinful flesh,’ which 3) live in a material body. As described in 1 Ths. 5:23, God views the human spirit of man as a completely different entity from the ‘natural’ mind/‘soul’/‘flesh’ of humanity. Also, this religious thought does not recognize the Scriptural teaching that humankind died spiritually at the fall in Eden, and has to be spiritually reborn through sincere faith in, and personal acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ, (Rom. 2 & 3; Jn. 1:12-13; 3:3-5.) According to Jesus’ instruction, the human spirit inside of man, comatozed in a cursed state or position of lostness, spiritual death, and cursedness without God, needs to be reborn first, (Gal. 4:6; 3:10-14.) The human spirit is already ‘spirit;’ it simply needs to ‘come alive’ in Christ! Once the rebirth of the human spirit had taken place, the ‘natural’/carnal/flesh/mind or ‘soul’ of man needs to be “transformed” through “day by day” or continual renewal, “that we may know [on a rational/intelligent/mental level,] what is that good, acceptable, and perfect will of God,” (Rom. 12:1-2; 1 Pt. 1:13-15.) The OAC focuses on the duality of mankind: The only unseen part of humankind which this religious thought recognizes, is the ‘natural mind,’ which lives in a physical body. Being only dual entities, (and not tri-part beings, created in the image of the Triune Godhead,) the members of the OAC believe that their ‘carnal’ or ‘natural’ minds, (which the Bible calls ‘the flesh,’) need to be ‘enlightened’ by the knowledge that the whole Bible must be interpreted ‘spiritually’ – and this knowledge ‘transforms’ the natural mind into ‘spirit.’ Possessing ‘spiritual minds,’ then, they themselves become ‘spirits’ and ‘angels,’ which, for them, supposes the process of the rebirth according to Jn. 3:3-5. Biblically, however, neither the natural mind, (or the human soul,) nor the human spirit, (or supernatural spirit-part of man,) can ‘become’ anything else, (1 Ths. 5:23.) The human spirit and the human soul are two distinctly separate entities. The human mind can never and will never become ‘spirit’ or anything else – much less an ‘angel,’ as the OAC teaches! According to Scripture, angels are a completely different species from humanity, (Heb. 2:7.) If it were possible for humans to ‘become’ angels, it would result in another interspecies abomination, as described in Gen. 6! The Gnostic, 4th century, Greek philosopher Plato: Plato was one of the greatest founders of subsequent Gnostic religions. In Greek, the word ‘gnosis’ relates to intelligent head-knowledge as ‘spiritual light,’ or as ‘the path’ leading to the so-called ‘spiritual’ enlightenment of the mind or soul. The Spirit Filled Bible explains Col. 1:19 as follows, “The heretics promise their followers new knowledge, (Greek: gnosis,) which is self-serving [and the complete opposite of Jesus’ teaching of humble service.] Here Paul prays that believers fully attain to and be controlled by the fullest and clearest knowledge (Greek: epignosis) of God, [which is real Godly, Biblical knowledge;] the knowledge [or epignosis] that we need to understand His [truly Scriptural] will in all His wisdom…” Plato preached the deity and duality of man: Plato’s Gnostic doctrines of so-called ‘superior knowledge’ and intellectual reason are contained by his ‘Theory of Forms.’ The foundation of this humanist doctrine declares that ‘essence precedes existence.’ That means that ‘spirit’ was created first; then spirit ‘became’ the material creation. Reality, therefore, is seated in the spiritual realm; it is not found in the material world, and both the spiritual and material are contained by the human mind. Wikipedia explained, “Plato… views the soul [OR MIND] as a sort of composite, in which many different elements [SUCH AS ‘SPIRIT’] blend together and affect each other… [The Bible states that humanity consists of a separate human spirit and a separate human soul, which live in a physical body, 1 Ths. 5:23.] “Plato’s ‘Theory of Forms’ is his belief that the material world as it seems to us is not the real world, but only a shadow of the real world… Forms… are roughly speaking abstract representations of the many types and properties (universals) of things we see all around us… [The Buddhist/Hinduist/Nazi teaching of ‘Maya’ was conceived from this. Maya means, this physical dimension and everything in it (such as pain, starvation, etc.) is only an ‘illusion.’ The ‘real’ world is found in a ‘spiritual’ state of ‘complete enlightenment;’ ‘heaven,’ or Nirvana.] [Plato described the human mind as a ‘carriage,’ drawn by a white and a black horse. The soul needs to be governed by the white horse, which symbolizes ‘The Light’ and ‘spirituality,’ but] some souls have difficulty in controlling the black horse… [The Black Horse is ‘Darkness,’ or the unintelligent or ‘natural’ part of the mind; ‘the flesh.’] If overcome [or ruled by the black horse,] the soul loses its [ANGELIC] wings and is pulled down to earth. Should that happen, the soul is incarnated… Plato intended this as a literal discussion of reincarnation; [but] it seems more likely he meant it as figurative, [THE ‘SPIRITUAL’ REBIRTH OF THE SOUL...]” Plato, sadly, did not realize that God’s material creation is indeed very real. God Himself formed ‘natural,’ thinking man ‘from the dust of the earth’ first, (Gen. 2:7.) He then ‘blew His breath into man’ – [the Breath of Life; thereby creating the supernatural human spirit of man, (Jn. 1:4.)] And man became a [tri-part, spiritually alive,] living ‘soul,’ or conscious being, (1 Ths. 5:23.) The material side of humanity is very real; therefore the whole context of Scripture instructs us to use our ‘natural’ minds in every decision and choice, (1 Pt. 5:8.) Biblically, our ‘spiritual’ understanding of God is seated in, and grows from faith, or a ‘natural,’ rational choice to believe in the ability of God, (Heb. 1:1-2.) Atlantis or ‘Paradise Lost;’ humankind fell into a ‘dark’ or hellish state of mind: As Plato, in his study of humankind, omitted the human spirit of humanity and viewed mankind as duel beings, he believed that the ‘darkened’ mind of man has to be ‘enlightened’ to reach the ‘higher plane’ of spiritual existence, where it actually becomes, or turns into ‘spiritual, godlike matter,’ because all material matter existed as spiritual matter ‘first.’ Plato’s ‘spiritual plane’ where material matter existed first, was Atlantis or ‘Paradise;’ which was inhabited by ‘divine human beings;’ an ‘elite’ race of great intelligence and ingenuity. Plato believed that the ‘divine spirituality,’ as well as the ‘great morality’ of the Atlantean elite resided in their huge intellect. However, over time, the intellectual part of this ‘divine’ race began to crumble, and these ‘supermen’ began to fall into the ‘dark,’ intellectual and moral decay of the ‘natural mind,’ or ‘the flesh.’ As both the ‘spirituality’ and ‘the flesh’ of humanity are encapsulated by the ‘mind;’ ‘heaven’ as well as ‘hell’ became a mere ‘state of mind.’ Humankind thus fell from the ‘divine, heavenly’ state of mind into the ‘dark,’ hellish state of mind. Plato believed that the intellectual and moral decay, (the ‘dark’ state of mankind,) greatly displeased the Greek gods, therefore they sent a huge earthquake to produce tsunamis, and Atlantis or ‘Paradise’ was ‘lost’ beneath the sea. Paradise can again be found through ‘Reason,’ the ‘Savior’ of mankind: However, (Plato said,) humanity can again reach Paradise by aiming at the intellectual ‘enlightenment’ of the ‘darkened’ soul, which will restore the soul’s ‘Light,’ and consequently also its original divinity, spirituality and morality once more. In Platonism, (which, in time, birthed religions like Hellenism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Swedenborginism, Blakenism, and many others,) the goal of humankind on earth is to become mentally ‘enlightened’ to reach ‘Paradise’ or ‘Nirvana,’ (the heavenly state of mind) - as the Biblical heaven, as well as the Real God of heaven, simply does not exist in this ‘enlightened’ state of mind. Milton founded his play, ‘Paradise Lost,’ on Plato’s philosophies and alleged that original sin happened because man abused his high intellect to gain ‘bad’ knowledge, or the ‘natural knowledge’ of moral decay, and so, Adam fell from ‘Paradise.’ [PLEASE REMEMBER THAT ADAM LIVED IN A REAL PLACE HERE ON EARTH, CALLED THE GARDEN OF EDEN, not in ‘Paradise,’ Heaven, or in a ‘heavenly state of mind.’] As a result, Milton preached that the ultimate ‘governing force’ of humanity, Intellectual Reason, must be set in motion again. ‘Reason’ will then lead humankind (from the ‘darkened,’ ‘natural,’ or hellish state of mind) in the path of intellectual ‘enlightenment’ to restore humanity to spirituality and morality, and thus to Paradise once more. Intellectual Reason, therefore, will become the ‘Savior’ or Messiah of all mankind. The ‘mathematical’ and ‘geometrical’ creation of Plato: Plato believed that the cosmos can be measured ‘exactly;’ the spiritual world is in fact the ‘real’ world, and the ‘real’ world is the only concept which cannot be calculated by the human mind or soul. Plato’s entire philosophy was based on the ‘science’ of astrology, (which is in fact, sun worship.) That’s why Plato believed that the whole cosmos exists in ‘mathematics and geometry;’ as the whole universe “was made up of different placements and uses of triangles, squares, and circles.” Find more interesting discussions on the Main Page
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ZOLANI MAKHOSONKE, a former OAC member, wrote us concerning ANCESTRAL WORSHIP IN THE OAC: “Thanks for the information on your website http://www.unbannedbiblepublications.com/index_files/Page343.htm on the OAC. As a former member of the OAC I concur with everything written on the website. There is just one thing missing which is the rationale for the OAC calling people to leave even other "christian" churches. They say, in the Xhosa language: (1)UThixo uyakubuza uze kukhonzela usindiso lomphefumlo wakho ndaweninye nabakuni abalele ukufa nabaphilayo abangazange balive ilizwi Kuba UYesu akazange afele izone zehlabathi kodwa umnombo wakowabo kwaDavide. Ukufa kwakhe wehlela eHadesi kwelabafileyo eyokulanda umnombo wakhe aza amawethu enza isijwili esithi "Nkosi Nkosi koda kube nini na thina silindile?" Waphendula uYesu wathi "Hlalani nillinde ndizakunenzela inceba kumathambo ngamathambo ezinqe zenu niyakuzalelwa umkhululi nomsindiso ukusukela kwesesithathu ukuya kwesesine isizukulwana." [THIS MEANS:] God is calling you to come and serve for the salvation of your soul together with the souls of your kin both dead and alive who never had the word. For Jesus did not die for the sins of the whole world but for those of his kin. When Jesus died he went to Hades to release his kin only. The kin of others cried out "Lord Lord until when must we wait to be released". Jesus replied, "Wait I will have mercy on you through bones of bones of your loins in the third and fourth generation a redeemer and saviour will be born for you". I could not find any of this in the Bible. Regards, Zolani Makhosonke. UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN.”
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