Talking about future anointed ones

Reader: I just started reading your material and would like to make a brief comment on your article ‘Who should partake of the bread and wine,’ from 2015, where you say that all ‘Christians’ are in the new covenant etc.

As a [former] JW you are aware that the vast majority of redeemable mankind is destined for life here on earth, but that the whole NT does not concern itself at all with this hope, but rather entirely focuses on the affairs of those with the heavenly destiny.

Hence, while even angels are desiring to peer into the things concerning the anointed, it is not surprising, nor even wrong, for those who have not been called to this destiny, namely those who by default entertain the hope of eternal life here on earth, to be interested in these things, even though neither they nor the angels are actual participants nor sharers in the glory that is going to be revealed in us.

There are a lot of scriptural points to consider here, for example, both in Rev 7 and Mat 25, which deal with this matter, we have only two groups of people, Christ’s brothers and those who did good to them, and, the 144000 and the great crowed respectively, leaving us with but one group [outside of the anointed] who will be saved.

Interestingly, in Mat 25, the sheep [great crowd equivalent in Rev 7] are such as UNKNOWINGLY do good to Christ’s brothers, hence people who could not possibly be ‘dedicated, baptized Christians with an earthly hope,’ because how could such be surprised when Jesus pays them their reward of entering into life, for which they would have already hoped and dedicated their Christian lives for, if they really were in the new covenant along with the anointed?

As to ‘hopes,’ yes, there are two different hopes, but really only one CHRISTIAN hope, namely the heavenly, because the earthly hope is actually more connected with the OT hope of the Hebrew forefathers, ‘each living under own vine and fig tree and;’ hence scripture specifies ‘one Lord, one faith, ONE hope,’ just as Paul also talks about this heavenly hope into which people are saved, meaning, if any ‘Christian’ is truly saved, God immediately reveals this glorious future to them, so that there can be no doubt of mistake about their destiny. Ro 8:23,24

The notion of the WT that God anoints believers after years of faithful service is rather fanciful and not supported in Scripture, in ‘order that no flesh might boast in the sight of God,’ I hope you agree.

In your article you say: “. . . Christ Himself taught that tares will grow among the wheat. It is absolutely impossible for people to determine which of those who receive the symbols will be among the “saints of the Most High” and which will not. Christ’s words that the tares will be rooted out directly “from the Kingdom” more than transparently make it clear that until the “end of the age” symbolic bread and wine will be accepted by the “tares”, which will be in one meeting together in the real Sons of the Kingdom and the brothers of Jesus (Matthew 13: 38-42) . ”

A careful reading of the text [Mat 13:38-42] actually shows that at least in this illustration of Jesus, the ‘field’ where the ‘wheat’ and the ‘tares’ grow together until the harvest time, and which is the ‘KINGDOM’ from which the ‘tares’ will be plucked out of, is actually NOT the Christian congregation, the body of Christ, the meeting places of the anointed, BUT “the world,” – Jesus is very explicit and unambiguous here, to wit: “The field IS the world.” Mat 13:38

Sure, Satan would like nothing better than to infiltrate, corrupt and subsume any gathering of anointed ones, as he succeeded in doing since the end of the first century, but since the body of Christ is entirely distinct and ‘called out from,’ [Greek: Ecclesia} not [only] the world, but the nominal ‘Christian’ churches and denominations, also called Christendom, and since the organization and directing of the anointed is strictly by means of the Holy Spirit of truth with no compromise for heresy, as is also written: “. . . these did not defile themselves with [spiritual] women [church organizations],” it follows that were two or three are gathered together in the name of Jesus, any satanic infiltrator would quickly be exposed, so that if Satan’s agents were to actually swamp the fellowship, any true anointed member of Christ’s body would immediately leave such an association and separate himself from the unclean thing.

Since the anointing means full enlightenment, nobody who thinks that God tortures people forever in hell or believes that Jesus is God, or believes in the invisible presence lie of the WT can really be anointed.

Anyhow, I generally agree with your views so far and will continue reading and hopefully commenting as well.

I hope what I have written translates well into Russian, but let me know if you need clarification on any point.

Also, I would very much appreciate your feedback, since we are all parts of the body with different functions and insights. (“Place”)

Strazh: Thanks for the comment, it came as a surprise to me to get a comment in English. Yes, I understand almost everything. A large part of the article “Who should take the bread and wine?” wasn’t written by me. The main part of the material was sent to me in a letter from former JWs who later left the faith. But the material has remained part of this article until now, and I left it. I remember that in her letter, sister and brother researched the Bible and the Watchtower publications, but now I know that only the Bible needs to be researched. There are so many subtle lies in the Watchtower’s publications that they should not be considered at all.

So I have to say that in general, my understanding of many issues has improved a lot over the years. And I think your basic idea is correct. Actually, the main idea of my site is similar. – This is the appearance of the future chosen ones, who, in unity with Christ, will restore peace between God and all creatures, heavenly and earthly.

This is the main purpose of the New Testament and the main purpose of the existence of Christianity — to make the appearance of chosen ones. So it will be.

On the other hand, I am absolutely calm about the definition of the anointed, because God defines them, not people (Matthew 20:23). I also don’t worry about the group that God will put me in. This is not my question, but God’s. Besides, it won’t matter in a loving family of God.

However, I am surprised by Jehovah’s Witnesses and other people who know how to identify the real chosen ones. To take symbols and being chosen are two different things. (Also, Jesus instituted a dinner for remembrance, not a dinner for announcements of new “anointed ones.”) But many JWs think that if a person accepted bread and wine at the Memorial of Christ, it makes him a real anointed one. This reminds me of an anecdote known in our lands:

Two the commoners talk for a near the church. One says to the other:
“And our pastor is talking to God!”
“Oh, come on! He must be lying.”
“What?? Are you stupid? How can a person who talks to God lie??”

The essence of the anecdote is that a person should have proof of his anointing, for example, like Jesus Christ. So when I hear Jehovah’s Witnesses and others sit on God’s throne and “define” the chosen ones, I realize that they forget to do the most important thing. – They must acquire the mind of Christ and spread true knowledge about God and His plan. In fact, the people in Matthew 25 do not know God, and for this reason they will not be able to recognize His chosen ones (compare this with 1 John 4:5,6).

There are a lot of scriptural points to consider here, for example, both in Rev 7 and Mat 25, which deal with this matter, we have only two groups of people, Christ’s brothers and those who did good to them, and, the 144000 and the great crowed respectively, leaving us with but one group [outside of the anointed] who will be saved.

Interestingly, in Mat 25, the sheep [great crowd equivalent in Rev 7] are such as UNKNOWINGLY do good to Christ’s brothers, hence people who could not possibly be ‘dedicated, baptized Christians with an earthly hope,’ because how could such be surprised when Jesus pays them their reward of entering into life, for which they would have already hoped and dedicated their Christian lives for, if they really were in the new covenant along with the anointed?

Yes, you are absolutely right. I came to the same conclusion, though in a slightly different way. In fact, Matthew 25 has the simplest explanation. I wrote about this in the article called “Will only Christians be saved?” In a word, the Greek Scriptures word [ETHNE] means Gentiles. After the coming, Jesus will divide the Gentiles into sheep and goats.

However, I do not think that only Gentiles will be included in the great crowd. Many people call themselves Christians, but they are actually Gentiles. If they pass the test during the time of the end, they can get saved.

Also, today, all Christians are those who have been called. As it is written, many are invited, but few are chosen. I think that there will be many faithful Christians who simply did not get among the chosen ones. Even if they are not among the chosen ones, it does not mean death. Jehovah does not judge like a man.

Of course, I’m not talking about the man of lawlessness and his servants. These people have no future.

The notion of the WT that God anoints believers after years of faithful service is rather fanciful and not supported in Scripture, in ‘order that no flesh might boast in the sight of God,’ I hope you agree.

Sure. God looks at hearts, not “professional experience”. 🙂 By analogy with the first century, the first chosen were from among the people dedicated to God. Then people from other nations were also among the chosen ones. Many of them had never heard of God before. Only God sees hearts and knows them. He will choose who He wants. We are not able to find or identify the real chosen ones.

Sure, Satan would like nothing better than to infiltrate, corrupt and subsume any gathering of anointed ones, as he succeeded in doing since the end of the first century, but since the body of Christ is entirely distinct and ‘called out from,’ [Greek: Ecclesia} not [only] the world, but the nominal ‘Christian’ churches and denominations, also called Christendom, and since the organization and directing of the anointed is strictly by means of the Holy Spirit of truth with no compromise for heresy, as is also written: “. . . these did not defile themselves with [spiritual] women [church organizations],” it follows that were two or three are gathered together in the name of Jesus, any satanic infiltrator would quickly be exposed, so that if Satan’s agents were to actually swamp the fellowship, any true anointed member of Christ’s body would immediately leave such an association and separate himself from the unclean thing.

Maybe I didn’t understand everything, because here I can’t agree. Jesus forbade the servants to pluck the tares before their time. This will be done by the angels during the harvest. Before the harvest, the tares and wheat grow together. Therefore, the real anointed ones can be anywhere, in and out of earthly the congregations. To run away from the evil does not mean to physically separate from any organization or group. Wheat will grow in churches and out of churches. And among the people who have left the churches, there are many many evil apostates and blasphemers, also.

Since the anointing means full enlightenment, nobody who thinks that God tortures people forever in hell or believes that Jesus is God, or believes in the invisible presence lie of the WT can really be anointed.

I don’t know exactly what the English words “full enlightenment” mean. But I do know that God is looking at the heart of man, not a set of correct teachings. In the first century, many Jews (and Gentiles) were chosen because they had not a set of correct teachings. Many were opposed, as Paul did, or were idolaters and sinners. This proves once again that people are unable to recognize those whom God has designated for his glory.

After all, according to the prophet Jeremiah, the Law of the New Testament is written on the hearts. And this means that such an Agreement is concluded with each person individually. Accordingly, it depends on Jehovah only and does not depend on the deeds of this person and on his religious affiliation.

Therefore, the question of determining the true anointed can not be solved by people and angels in any way. This only distracts from the most important thing. Similarly, many people want to understand the prophecies, but they are not hurry to know God. And they don’t learn to think like Christ. So they make very stupid mistakes in their “understanding”. When we try to help them and show them the problems of their understanding, they are driven by a competitive spirit. Unwillingness to see the main will of God, selfish interests, idolatry before their “teachers”, concealment of their mistakes, disputes, disagreements, cruel reproaches. Moreover, the competitive spirit is demonic wisdom, as James wrote (James 3:14,15). Such people have no wisdom from God, they hinder God’s work. There is a process of tough tests in all the details. Jehovah makes a very strict selection; and I think that such an environment only accelerates the process of wheat hardening, regardless of our desires and understanding.

I tried to write everything in short phrases to make it easier to translate.

Finally, a few words on the issue of feedback. You can always write to me on the questions page of this site. I always look at the message feed, and respond, even if my response is delayed. If you don’t want your message to be published, just write about it. You can also contact me on the forums where I write, but this method of communication is not guaranteed.

Agape love,

Strazh (“Vadim”)

24 thoughts to “Talking about future anointed ones”

    1. Ok. I will read and respond as much as possible. Unfortunately, I was forced to enable pre-moderation. Very often, somepeople come who write things that are unacceptable for publication.

  1. Part 1,

    Thank you for taking the time to reply and as quickly as you did, Vadim.

    You are right, Paul’s words, ‘. . . all creation [people] is impatiently waiting for the revealing of the sons of God’ truly reflects and confirms Jesus’ words that nobody knows the [genuine] anointed but those to whom Jehovah has given this blessed experience,

    and that survival for all others depends on rejecting the upcoming mark of the beast and doing good to Christ’s brothers, whom they do not know, which is by design, namely, to give them the opportunity to reflect that if Jehovah or Jesus were to come down here in person, afflicted with our predicaments, how would we treat them if we did not recognize them for who they are; in other words: – is our love genuine or out of ulterior motives?

    Jehovah is well aware of the tremendous privilege He has, and is therefore very choosy with whose worship He appreciates, the motives for which need to be based on righteousness as a principle, and genuine love for who He is as a person.

    The anointing involves an intimate getting to know Him, and in turn, apparently, according to Paul, also a complete searching of the heart of the person adopted by Jehovah through Jesus. Gal 4:9

    The ‘full enlightenment’ I mentioned is based on texts such as Eph 1:17,18; Heb 6:4, 10:32; Jude 5; 1Jo 2:27.

    You say: “. . . I do know that God is looking at the heart of man, not a set of correct teachings,” yes, correct, but true and accurate teachings follow from those who have been anointed with the spirit of truth, although speaking the truth is in itself not a sign of anointing, still, those who believe and teach falsehoods in God’s Name cannot be anointed, and to recognize truth one needs to have Holy Spirit which can be given at anytime to anyone, but which obviously has to dwell permanently in those born of the Spirit.

    God wants people to love truth for itself, not because it is a useful tool or because it is spoken by famous and influential people.

  2. Part 2,

    Even Jesus Himself was not entrusting Himself to man because of His knowing them all, and because He was in no need to have anyone bear witness about man, for He Himself knew what was in man, like, ‘all the things they do, they do to be seen by man,’ etc.

    According to my reading of Scripture there are three categories of people alive here on earth at the time of Christ’s return, namely, the anointed, the ‘sheep’ and the ‘goats.’

    By the way, I view the ‘other sheep’ of John 10:16 as gentile [non-Jewish] anointed

    Christians, the way Paul also explained in Ephesians 2:11-22, making the two ‘parties’ one in Christ as fellow anointed.

    However, having abolished the historic distinction between Jew and Gentile among the anointed does not mean that the distinction between the spiritual seed of Abraham [Christ and His body members] and the ‘nations of all the earth’ has also been abolished, for non-anointed ‘Christians’ today cannot but be in the category of ‘the nations’ that during the millennium will be blessed to the level of human perfection that Adam once had.

    Only after the final test at the end of the 1000 years will Jehovah also become ‘all things’ to the non-anointed here on earth.

    A good way of looking at the situation today is to make a distinction between the nominal church and the body of Christ, where the nominal church is composed of both sheep and goats.

    By definition there are no ‘goats’ or ‘weeds’ in the body of Christ, ever.

    There are ‘some that went out from us, but they were never of our sort, never truly anointed.

    This reality nicely explains how that over the years [and centuries] after the demise of the original ‘batch’ of anointed ones in the first century more and more non-anointed ‘Christians’ entered into the meetings of the holy ones, even good, sheep-like ones, but who nevertheless were unable to keep the Christian message pure from heretical teachings, while the anointed, small in number by then, were crowded out and overruled by the newly forming ‘Christian’ arrangement [nominal church] and truth by consensus rather than by Divine revelation, as at first.

    That way, genuine anointed ones were over the centuries always persecuted and expelled as heretics for believing and teaching the pure gospel of Christ, just like first century Christians were also persecuted by their own supposed spiritual brothers in Judaism.

    1. Christians, the way Paul also explained in Ephesians 2:11-22, making the two ‘parties’ one in Christ as fellow anointed.
      Hi.

      I’m sorry, I don’t understand this quote. Can it be written in a simpler way?

  3. Part 3,

    Nobody who is genuinely anointed can for any length of time continue to be also a member of the [any] nominal church, which would be spiritual adultery for them, since they have once for all time been enlightened at their spiritual baptism into Christ.

    However, there seems to be plenty of anecdotal evidence that there are a lot of sincere non-anointed ‘Christians’ endlessly stuck in the nominal church[es], some of whom are hopefully waking up in time to escape God’s judgment on these institutions.

    With this I do not mean to say that every person who leaves the nominal church but keeps his faith in God and Jesus is thereby giving proof that he is anointed; only that this statistically seems to be a rare occurrence, with most JWs becoming atheists or joining other denominations of the nominal church.

    By the way, I view JWs as just another part of the nominal church that will be judged at the coming of Christ.

    The purpose of the nominal church, apart from creating a stable and relatively safe social environment in the western world, is mainly to serve as a ‘seed bed’ for the anointed, just as Judaism was for first Century Christians.

    The nominal church seems to serve the function of ‘tutor [Greek: pedagogue] (potentially) leading to Christ’ for those called by God to ‘graduate’ from this spiritual ‘apprenticeship,’ while most JWs and church goers are endlessly repeating classes or else flunking the test altogether and dropping out for good.

    [It looks like you are one of the by divine providence ‘lucky’ few who have been shown mercy by God to ‘graduate,’ although taking the truth SERIOUS, while not bestowing merit, still seems to contribute as a necessary condition, along with a willingness to bear the reproach of Christ as a blasphemer and ‘apostate’ by those who claim to be God’s exclusive channel of salvation.]

    Here it seems useful to bring up ‘Jerusalem’ and its judgment in Scripture as a type of what is to befall Christianity in our day. God’s wrath will be poured out on the nominal church, typified by Jerusalem in 70 C.E.
    It will then be difficult to get out of the religious system [church] that people have devoted their entire life to worshiping.

    1. [It looks like you are one of the by divine providence ‘lucky’ few who have been shown mercy by God to ‘graduate,’ although taking the truth SERIOUS, while not bestowing merit, still seems to contribute as a necessary condition, along with a willingness to bear the reproach of Christ as a blasphemer and ‘apostate’ by those who claim to be God’s exclusive channel of salvation.]

      I don’t understand this quote. If you want, please, explain it.

    2. В России восстали два пророка, две маслины, о которых сказано в Книге Откровение! Я свидетельствую о том, что это совершилось!
      Вот книга пророка Тау, в ней свидетельство и новое знание от Господа

      1. Дина, на этом сайте рассматриваются библейские пророчества, а не гностические предположения. Поэтому подобные комментарии здесь не приветствуются. Да и нет никакого “нового знания от Господа”. Они простое знание даже из “старого” Апокалипсиса никак не могут понять без противоречий, куда там им до нового знания?

        Да и рассудите сами, если вникать во все человеческие предположения, то на саму Библию просто времени не останется. Что и произошло в случае с гностиками.

        Так что Вы обратились явно не по адресу.

  4. Part 4,

    As to membership in the new covenant, and whether non-anointed ‘Christians’ are in it, we may note just what its profound effect is, according to Scripture, namely, that it puts the Law of Jehovah into the hearts of its members, just like that, with the result that they do not need anyone anymore to teach them about Jehovah’s ways.

    Now, over the past 2000 years there have been hundreds of millions of non-anointed ‘Christians’ here on earth who will be resurrected during the 1000 year reign of blessing and restoration to perfection of ‘all the nations’ by means of the seed of Abraham, the kingdom of God, staffed by the anointed under Christ Jesus, in order to teach them Jehovah’s ways, but of which they would have NO NEED as they were already perfected by having been in the new covenant, thus making the whole purpose of God’s kingdom reign OBSOLETE!

    No, the new covenant is made exclusively with the ‘house of [spiritual] Israel,’ which is only the anointed who will rule with Christ to bless and restore mankind to perfection during the kingdom reign.

    If God were to write His laws into all people’s hearts there would be no need for the kingdom.

    Furthermore, if the non-anointed, who by definition are not born of the spirit, but born of the flesh, were in the new covenant, as part of the seed of Abraham, and heirs of the promise, they would then also serve here on earth as kings and priests to implement the restoration of all things as promised in all the prophets.

    I am not saying that YOU teach this, but that this would be the logical implication of the situation, and that others have thus spelled it out.

    So what about it?

    1. Yes, it seems reasonable. Perhaps the old article prevented me from thinking correctly for a while. At any rate, I see that at the end of the 1000-year kingdom, the law of God will be in the hearts of all, earthly and heavenly. But I’ll think about it, and I’ll write more.

      But it also seems strange that the great crowd and the 144,000 have the same beliefs in the Father and the Son (Rev.14:1 => 7:10). If the great crowd are not Christians, and they did not know God before coming out of the great calamity, why do they give glory to God and the Lamb?

      I just have a lot of work to do, and I need to rest. I`ll write more later.

  5. Part 5,

    So what about it?

    Paul, maintaining [and explaining by means of OT type] the proprietary separation and distinction resulting from God’s sovereign will and right of choice as Creator, answers:

    “. . . what does the Scripture say? Cast out the s*l*a*v*e g*i*r*l and her son [who was conceived in the normal way in the f*l*e*s*h], for by NO MEANS shall the son of the s*l*a*v*e g*i*r*l be heir with the son of the free woman [who had the husband and was giving birth miraculously due to God’s promise].”

    Thus, with one fell swoop, the divine utterance destroys the post-modern, cultural Marxist, ‘liberal’ egalitarianism of equality – equality of opportunity as well as equality of outcome – which constitute Satan’s standard of ‘righteousness,’ and through which he incites the whole world into rebellion against God and His anointed here on earth.

    The first human rights activist and women’s liberation advocate here on earth didn’t take long in ‘liberating’ the first human couple from this ‘misogynistic,’ ‘tyrannical’ Jehovah, who [according to him] was going to keep us humans merely as guinea pigs for His own experimentation, in order to settle a moral dispute between Himself and ‘free spirited’ angels [demons] in heaven, all of whom He offended and wronged by not trusting them, as the allegation by the adversary goes. Job 15:15

    Hence Jehovah’s purpose of giving the anointed immortality, total independence from Him, which Satan and his mob so greatly coveted and tried to force Him to give to them by turning all intelligent creation against Him in rebellion so that He would look like a looser for destroying them.

    I hope my somewhat rambling reply addresses at least some of the variance in our respective views on the subject thus far, for this is a vast and interconnected topic of utter importance in the race for life.

    I am glad to hear from you, but take your time, there is no rush.

    Love and greetings,

    Place

  6. Dear Vadim,

    you asked about my reference to Eph 2:11-22, about God making two parties, Jew and Gentile, one [spiritual people of equal standing and destiny] through Christ Jesus;

    well, as you know, Christianity had its origin 4000 years ago when God promised to save and bless ‘all the nations’ by means of Abraham’s seed, which initially was thought of as being based on his GENETIC line of descend [his literal children],

    but God made it already clear [Gal 3:8] that He meant Abraham’s SPIRITUAL seed [descendant], who furthermore was meant to be a composite ‘man’ [entity, a group of people] who were related to him, not physically [genetically, ‘in the flesh’], but spiritually, meaning, having the same faith of Abraham as a mechanism [vehicle, means, operating principle] of salvation.

    Therefore, in the OT and to Jews, non-Jews were deemed to be enemies and outsiders of God’s promise – not included and qualifying for the privilege of being among the rulers over mankind [the nations] to restore them to the paradise conditions and perfection that He intended for the earth.

    However, when the meaning and scope of God’s promise was clarified at the start of Christianity [revealing of the (a) sacred secret], He abolished the distinction [exclusion, enmity] between Jew and Gentile, but NOT between those who bless [anointed rulers for the 1000 years] and those who are being blessed, namely mankind here on earth as subjects of the kingdom – that was my point; I hope it covers your question.

    ——-

    The other point you ask about is God showing mercy to people [you, me, and others] in letting them ‘graduate’ from organizational [formal] worship, which is, worship mediated [regulated, administered] by an organization, denomination, group or Church, rather than by the only true Mediator, Jesus Christ, and how we have to show faith by leaving all and everything behind for Him, but that this effort on our part, although necessary, is no meritorious work for us. Eph 2:8; Heb 13:13,14; Gal 4:9

    ——-

    Another question you ask; ” If the great crowd are not Christians, and they did not know God before coming out of the great calamity, why do they give glory to God and the Lamb?”

    Their salvation will be miraculous and unexpected. Anointed ones, while exceedingly grateful, will not be surprised at their salvation. There may be agnostics and even those who think of themselves as atheists who will reject the mark of the beast and be helpful to Christ’s brothers in their time of need, while a lot of those claiming to be Christians will fall for Satan’s deception – talk is cheap, while faith in Christ is an action when it really counts, with which even skeptics sometimes surprise themselves. Mark 9:24

    Let me know if this makes sense.

    Thanks,

    Place

  7. Thank you for the clarification. I have already read the material many times, and the outlines of something integral have begun to emerge, but it is fuzzy. I understand the meaning of most of these things about the same way, although I explain them a little differently. You carry out several thoughts at once. For example, if I understand correctly, do you want to point out the difference between those who have the Law of God written in their hearts and the rest? Or not?

    How does Jehovah write His law in the hearts? What do you think about it?

    ***
    So what is my main problem? I find it very difficult to translate some words and phrases into my language.

    Also, I can’t understand separate words. For example, I don’t understand what means”liberty”, and how it differs from the “freedom”. What do these words have to do with the Biblical prophecies? I see no reason to speak of “Marxism” or “egalitarianism” within the framework of Christian teaching. Or, for example, the word “meritorious” is incomprehensible to me at all.

    Also, there are some statements that do not have direct confirmation in the Scriptures. It is also confusing, and makes it difficult to focus on the main thing.

    I would be very grateful if you would separate and formulate the main idea (or thoughts) that you want to say. Briefly, concisely, in a few phrases.

    A skeleton of the system is needed, the components of which can be discussed afterwards. Or highlight the main points separately from each other.

    Agape love,
    Strazh

  8. Ok, you ask: “. . . do you want to point out the difference between those who have the Law of God written in their hearts and the rest?”

    Yes, this is indeed a big thing because those who are in the New [Christian] Covenant do not need any human [Pastor, Priest, Elder etc.] to teach them the knowledge of Jehovah, which is similar to 1 John 2:27, which says that the anointing [enlightenment] from God ‘teaches them about all things’ here and now, not during the 1000 year kingdom to come when all others, both resurrected ones and non-anointed survivors will be taught about His ways.

    If non-anointed ‘Christians,’ of which there are about 2 billion here on earth today, really had God’s laws written in their hearts, the world would not be in the mess it is right now, I would think.

    How does Jehovah write His law into the hearts of men? That is an interesting question.

    According to Paul and Jesus there seem to be several stages for Christians to go through: first comes awareness of the law through the teaching of it, just as Christ said: “Do not think that I came to destroy the law . . . but to fulfill it . . . for whoever does and TEACHES them will be great in the kingdom.” Mat 5:17-19

    Paul elaborates: “. . . I was alive once without the law,’ but since he was born into Judaism and the law, when and how was he ever WITHOUT the law? Ro 7:9

    He probably means that at one point of his life he considered himself to be a good law keeping Jew, before God made him sensitive to the purity and absoluteness of it, by awaking and sensitizing his conscience, which condemned him as a sinner, so that the more he tried to keep it, the more it induced sinful passions in him [verse 5].

    Now at this stage a person is at the cross roads to either deny the reality and truth of his inability to keep the law and become a hypocrite, or despair of his own righteousness and ability to conquer sin by his own efforts – this is a question of humility and pride, but also one of justice and unfairness, and hence, of trust in God’s benevolence or the condemning of Him as unrighteous.

    Here we have two issues which create a conundrum: man’s willingness [apart from his selfishness, which makes him unwilling] to subject himself to the law depends on it being just – which it claims to be [verse 12] – but is it fair and just to subject someone to a law which he is constitutionally incapable of keeping?

    But before I get back to this, one more point on how Paul was once alive without law: Jesus, in Mat 5:27,28 quoting the law said, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ which according to the letter seems relatively easy to keep, but which in its spiritual intent is inevitably broken just by looking at a woman with impure thoughts.

    This illustrates the point and the difference between having the law written in one’s heart, versus having it written in one’s Bible as an ‘external divine enactment.’

    Since the law is spiritual, but man is physical, ‘born of woman,’ Christians have to be born of the Spirit in order to have God’s law written in their hearts. Ro 7:14; Mat 11:11; Ga 4:29

    To my mind, in reading Scripture, the following elements all hang inseparably together: anointing, new birth in the Spirit, adoption as sons, new covenant, the law written in the heart, the heavenly hope – this is called the NEW CREATION for a reason, and goes beyond the promised restoration to human perfection during the 1000 year kingdom reign.

    The nominal church has no idea about this and its fruit shows it.

    ————-

    You ask about the connection between Christianity and ‘political correctness,’ which is the doctrine and religion of equality, the progressive, leftist grievance and entitlement culture, the ‘slow march through the institutions’ [of western, Christian civilization] introduced through the Frankfurt School – I am sure you have something equivalent of this ‘mystery of lawlessness’ in your part of the world. 2 Thes 2:7

    So what of it?

    Satan is playing the underdog and wants mankind to rebel against God as this tyrannical, authoritarian bully who unjustly hates and threatens with extinction ‘minorities’ that disagree with His righteous way.

    Jehovah chose Jesus and His brothers and gave them special ‘privileges’ which Satan and his lefty mob resent and decry as discriminatory, hence their battle cry for ‘equality’ and ‘social justice.’

    How else can we explain and expect Jesus’ prophecy to come true: And you will be hated by all people on account of My name? Mat 24:9,10

    Jesus warned us about the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy, and today they rule the world and have made it a criminal offence to even criticize them – I am not sure if, and to what level you are aware of this.

    —–

    Meritorious is illustrated in Ro 4:4, because to him that works, his pay is merited and he has a claim to the reward, and he has ground for boasting, but not so with our salvation, because our ‘good works’ are the RESULT of God’s kindness, NOT the basis for His grace.

    I hope this makes things a bit clearer.

  9. Hello, Place.

    In principle, I have considered and understood all the points discussed. I hope to write another article on the subject of ‘enlightenment’ and ‘anointing’, where I will cover everything necessary. This was the main question here, and it requires a separate article. I will not discuss all the other details that you have suggested, except for one point that will help you understand my method.

    As I have already written, system analysis of the Bible is a very powerful weapon. But it has one serious drawback. – This is the inability to go beyond the boundaries of the system. As an ordinary researcher, I cannot go beyond the system of biblical teachings and prophecies. I’m only talking about things that are obvious within the Bible system. Therefore, I cannot offer interpretations in today’s reality. That is why I do not link the Bible prophecies to the political forces and countries of this world – to the left, right, middle, front, back, and the rest. I have no such ‘enlightenment’. Because I’m not a prophet. And because this method has been used on the site since the beginning of its existence.

    So the text you have suggested, Galatians 4:29-30, looks simple to me. He speaks of a slave and a free woman. Who is s_l_a_v_e woman it is written in Galatians 4:25. Who is free is written in Galatians 4:26. Read the context, everything is written there. Obviously, within the boundaries of the system of biblical texts and prophecies, this does not apply to the political conflicts of this world. In any case, I don’t have the enlightenment to make such interpretations.

    At the same time, I set myself a very real task – to understand the prophecies with the help of the prophecies themselves, and to see the whole prophetic picture (system). When you understand this picture, you can always accurately recognize it in reality, even if it comes after many years. Therefore, I am sure that it is wrong to demonize today’s political parties and states, which may not be involved in the biblical prophecies. By the way, this is part of Christian neutrality, and it has always been maintained and will continue to be maintained on this site in the future. Please understand correctly, this is not the place to discuss the political battles of this world. All this is outside the boundaries of the system of biblical teachings and prophecies, at least for me.

    The other day, a woman wrote comments here, it seems that she is obsessed. Since I have to leave for a short time, I have to turn on the pre-moderation. After that, I will try to write an article on the topic of enlightenment, and add other important and interesting details.

    Agape love,
    Strazh

  10. Уважаемый, автор!
    Поскольку вопрос о том, чего должны ожидать верные христиане относительно своего будущего довольно важный вопрос, я решил прокомментировать Вашу заметку.
    На мой взгляд, одно из самых ужасных учений, которым учит Общество СБ, это учение о “разных надеждах” для христиан.
    Начнём с того, что это учение НЕ библейское. Нигде в Писании нет указания на это “кастовое” разделение верующих на “небесных и земных”. В своих книгах Рэймонд Френц очень последовательно и аргументированно показал как именно возникло это разделение в 30-х годах прошлого столетия (или чуть раньше, точно не помню). Оно было анонсировано вовсе не из-за более точного понимания или более тщательного исследования. Впрочем, так же, как и учения о 1914 годе и “верном и благоразумном рабе”.
    Приводя свои “библейские доказательства”, Свидетели обычно ссылаются на одни и те же тексты: притча об овцах и козлах (Мф 25) и “великое множество” из книги Отк 7. Оба эти места Писания не могут быть истолкованы однозначно. Если честно, мне это напоминает “аргументы” тех, кто верит в учение о Троице и считает его библейским.
    У меня возникает резонный вопрос: не стоит ли обратится к тем текстам Писания, которые недвусмысленно говорят о том, что ждёт верных Богу людей в будущем? Ведь таких текстов гораздо больше в книгах НЗ и они не вызывают споров.
    Вот, к примеру, слова Иисуса из Мф 5:8: “Счастливы чистые сердцем, потому что они УВИДЯТ Бога”. Это же очень понятные слова! Но Свидетели, используя стих 5 из этой же главы, где сказано, что “кроткие наследуют землю”, уверены, что фразу “увидят Бога” не нужно понимать буквально. Тогда почему мы должны понимать буквально фразу “наследуют землю”? Кто это решает? Разве не было бы более разумным понимать эти слова Христа в соответствии с другими, сказанными им же словами, где очень ясно говорится о том, что ВСЕ христиане будут жить НА НЕБЕ? “В доме Отца Моего комнат много. Будь не так, разве Я бы сказал вам, что иду приготовить вам место? И когда Я уйду, приготовлю вам место, Я вернусь и возьму вас к себе, чтобы и вы были там же, где Я” (Ин 14:2,3). Не станет же читающий эти слова утверждать, что они относятся исключительно к апостолам! Иначе как понимать слова самих апостолов, произнесённые ими уже через много лет. “Ими [Богом и Христом] нам дарованы драгоценные и великие ДЛЯ НАС ДЛЯ ВСЕХ обещания, чтобы ими же вы стали сопричастными божественной сущности…”, “Который уничиженное тело НАШЕ преобразит так, что оно будет сообразно славному телу Его…”, “Или вы забыли, что, когда МЫ крестились, чтобы соединиться с Христом Иисусом, МЫ тем самым разделили Его смерть… И если МЫ умерли такой же смертью, как и Он, и тем соединились с Ним, то и ВОСКРЕСНЕМ подобно Ему. Мы верим, что раз мы умерли с Христом, то и жить БУДЕМ с Ним…”, “Ибо, если МЫ веруем, что Иисус умер и воскрес, то и умерших в Иисусе Бог приведет с Ним…”, “Когда Христос, НАША жизнь, будет явлен, тогда и ВЫ БУДЕТЕ явлены с ним в славе…” и т. д.(2Пт 1:4; Фил 3:21; Рим 6:3,5,8; 1Фес 4 :14; Кол 3:4). Разве это не обо всех христианах? Где мы находим в этих важных словах деление на “классы”?
    Христос умер ЗА ВСЕХ. Но тем, кто при жизни на земле в условиях, когда миром правит зло, принял его и сохранил веру в его обещания до конца своей жизни, он обещает небесное будущее. Все остальные (то есть те, кто не проявил веры, “неправедные”) тоже вернуться к жизни – к жизни на земле (Дн 24:15; Отк 20:12-15).
    Согласитесь, что тексты Писания, которые выражены ОБРАЗНЫМ языком, должны пониматься нами в свете ЯСНО выраженных мыслей по тому же поводу, а не наоборот. Истина тут проста и понятна: Иисус сошёл с небес на землю для того, чтобы стать человеком и дать надежду на воскресение в будущем ВСЕМ людям. А так как, будучи жестоко казнённым, он лишился не только человеческой жизни, но и той, что у него была до того, то есть духовной, то повершим в него он захотел дать возможность получить такое же духовное тело – то есть максимально возможную награду!
    Я ни в коем случае не призываю читающих этот комментарий полностью согласиться со мной и верить, как я. Нет! Читайте Библию и понимайте её САМИ, так, как ВЫ её понимаете. Потому что каждый в ответе перед Богом только за самого себя и за свои собственные дела.
    Это повод ещё раз проверить себя! Не влияет ли на нас наше собственное чувство неполноценности? Не находимся ли мы до сих пор под влиянием искажённого понимания других людей, которые уверены в том, что истинный христианин с “небесной надеждой” должен испытывать что-то особенное, что указывало бы на то, что он “помазан духом”? Лично я таких взаимосвязей в Библии не нашёл.
    Успехов всем!

    1. Спасибо за здравые мысли, Сергей.

      Вы правы, многие христиане слишком зацикливаются на выдуманной проблеме своей “христианской самоидентификации” и на поиске своего “помазания” или своей личной “ступеньки в иерархии Божьего Царства”. Однако, Христос никогда не ставил таких задач своим последователям, следовательно, это путь в никуда.

      Если Вы можете читать на английском языке, я нашел очень здравую статью на эту тему, которая лично для меня послужила как бальзам на израненную душу: Identifying True Worship, Part 9: Our Christian Hope. Там есть автоматический перевод на русский язык, но он слишком кривой, поэтому нужно читать параллельно с английским.

      Полностью согласен с Вами, что багаж старых религиозных знаний может сыграть злую шутку с любым верующим. Особенно, если он не готов учиться и признавать свои ошибки. Конечно, есть проблема вместо старых заблуждений приобрести новые, поэтому здесь каждый понесет свое бремя. Думаю, что здесь нужно быть особенно внимательным к записанному Слову, чтобы вовремя отсекать любые заблуждения. А дальше – по аналогии со словами апостола: “кто чего достиг, так и должен мыслить и по тому правилу жить”.

  11. Are there two different hopes for Christians?

    Strictly speaking there is only one Christian hope, the heavenly, to rule with Christ over those here on earth, because the word Christian is derived from Messiah the anointed.

    However, there are 2 billion ‘Christians’ on the earth today, and if they all were anointed and guided by the Holy Spirit the world would not be in a mess like it is today, at least in all western, civilized countries; hence there is something gravely wrong with the designation ‘Christian’ to start with.

    All people are invited to believe in Jesus, but God chooses those whom He takes to Heaven, and He bears witness to those whom He thus adopts as His sons; all others will stay here on earth.

    If everybody believing in Jesus would be anointed, how then does God exercise His sovereign choice?

    Both Isaac and Ishmael were Abraham’s sons, the fleshly seed of God’s promise, but God chose Isaac as spiritual forefather of Jesus and His body, while Ishmael became a type of those with an earthly hope.

    So also Esau and Jacob were both physical sons of Isaac who inherited the promise, but God chose Jacob to represent the heavenly body of Christ, while Esau was a man of the earth.

    There you have your two different hopes for people who both were faithful believers in God.

    The original hope for Adam and Eve was eternal life here on earth, which they would have passed on to ALL their offspring.

    Further, the hope of the patriarchs was also life here on earth, which hope has never been rescinded and continues to hold true down to our day.

    The heavenly hope is a NEW creation, for a special purpose and a limited time.

    1. Are there two different hopes for Christians?

      Strictly speaking there is only one Christian hope, the heavenly, to rule with Christ over those here on earth, because the word Christian is derived from Messiah the anointed.

      But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. 2 Peter 3:13.
      If Peter duplicates an ancient prophecy for Christians, it is obvious that the earthly hope is also Christian. Personally, for example, I am encouraged by the hope of having eternal earth life with friends. The fact that the word Christian is derived from Christ the anointed proves nothing in this context.

      There are very good reflections on Christian hope in English: Identifying True Worship, Part 9: Our Christian Hope
      As you can see, everything is very ambiguous, and the main problem is not things those is written in the Bible. People do not understand what is written, then they invent a “heavenly” hope and begin to believe – everyone believes in their own myth. But in this way they show that they do not trust God. Great article!

      hence there is something gravely wrong with the designation ‘Christian’ to start with.

      So what? Jehovah’s Witnesses also took the name of their own accord. Therefore, the name does not always reflect what is behind it. Similarly, a person can call himself “enlightened” and “anointed”, but not really be him.

      If everybody believing in Jesus would be anointed, how then does God exercise His sovereign choice?

      You must admit that this question can only be addressed to God. I have long since realized that for humans, and even for angels, this is an impossible task. Of course, from my research, I realized that the book of the Apocalypse is written about another one – the future anointing (Rev 7:1-4). But I don’t know how you or anyone can know about your anointing today. For example, knowing myself, I can’t make such a statement about myself or anyone. I have already been wrong, so I am comforted by the thought that this question is God’s, not human.

      Perhaps I misunderstand your take on ‘neutrality?’

      Unfortunately, you misunderstand my view of neutrality. Within the boundaries of my research system, this neutrality is a CONSEQUENCE of the research methodology. The method is primary, and neutrality is its natural consequence. Trying to find interpretations in reality (but not having an exact understanding of what to attach to what in it) I would make mistakes. This is just the moment where it is impossible to do without enlightenment from God. So I’m a little versed in the Scriptures, but outside of them everything looks so vague that it does not give me the opportunity to accurately identify future prophetic characters. This is the task of future anointed prophets. Therefore, today, any attempt to go beyond the (biblical) system can lead to a violation of neutrality outside Bible borders. Unfortunately, nothing can be done about it yet.

      It is clear the time of the end has not come yet, and the sealing of the chosen ones has not happened. Any attempt to find interpretations in reality may become a spiritism divination. I see no reason to insert some abstract “globalist’s parties” into the Bible, and thereby get involved in questionable reasoning outside the boundaries of the Holy Scriptures. Please, let’s stop, I will not continue to discuss this issue on the pages of this site. Of course, I am free to discuss any issue, but this site is only for Bible and prophecy studies.

      In a certain way the truth seems to me to be like a jigsaw puzzle, where anybody with the right interest, patience and dedication can see individual pieces that fit together to form little islands on the board, but that the anointed have been given a glimpse of the whole picture up front, to also see where these individual clusters fit in relation to one another.

      Something similar was claimed by Russell. I think it makes no sense to repeat about the logical impasse into which he entered himself and an entire army of his followers. Basically, his mistake was the same as yours: he tried to find the truth from PEOPLE who seemed to him “true Christians”. But people have no answers, only the Spirit has the full understanding. Therefore, the correct understanding is available not only to the anointed, but to all who sincerely wish. I wrote a whole article about it, it is also available in English: Are there anointed prophets today?

      As I wrote above I will try to write about everything else in a new article.

  12. I was aware of Eric Wilson’s views since he started his internet presence.

    It is revealing how he fancies himself as a child of God [anointed] but then says that the heavenly hope doesn’t exist; how can such a heresy even be Christian?

    It just goes to show that these people are utterly clueless; wanting to be teachers of the law but denying its very teachings, misleading others and being misled, but their judgment is not moving slowly now.

    I rest my case.

    1. Thank you, Place. Now I understand this question even better.

      Enlightenment and anointing are two different things. For example, you refer to Hebrews 6:4 as the definition of full enlightenment. Yes, here the author is talking about enlightenment. However, context is 6:1-4. It is obvious that here enlightenment is the teachings about baptisms, about the laying on of hands, about the resurrection, etc. These are only the beginnings of the teaching, but! – these words were addressed to the already anointed Christians (=> Hebrews 3:1) What is the conclusion? For example, many Unitarian Christians know the beginnings of the teaching at once. Are they enlightened? – Yes. Are they all anointed and called to heaven? Yes, according to Hebrews 3:1, 6:1-4. But is it true? Of course not. That is why I wrote above, that many are invited, but few are chosen.

      Of course, the recipients of the epistle to the Hebrews had to grow spiritually and increase their spiritual understanding. But as can be seen from these texts, anointing does not depend on the level of knowledge and the degree of enlightenment. What to say, many Gentiles received the anointing immediately when they heard the sermon for the first time. But they reached spiritual maturity and greater enlightenment only later.

      On this site, I write a lot about spiritual maturity. Until the last moment, I thought that such maturity was needed to receive the anointing. However, thank you for your help. Now I understand better that anointing and spiritual maturity are different things, too. Today and at the end of the 1000-year Kingdom, earth people will be able to reach spiritual maturity and be adopted by God. But they don’t get anointed.

      In any case, I think we can always find points of mutual understanding if we think within the boundaries of the Bible only. Although I don’t insist.

      1. Right, ‘anointing does not depend on the level of knowledge and the degree of enlightenment,’ but those things WILL BE the result of a genuine anointing.

        Even in the first century there were many who were initially attracted to Christianity but then faded away, mainly because they were not actually anointed by God.

        Paul complained about some who went back to the world; John mentioned that many went out from us but were not of our sort, meaning, not anointed.

        But a lot of those who were not born of the Spirit remained and took up positions of prominence in the meetings of the holy ones; that is not to say that those not anointed always cause trouble,

        but in most cases this is what actually happened, just as Paul mentions: ‘those born according to the flesh [non-anointed] began persecuting those born of the Spirit [the anointed], so also NOW’ [and ever since he said those words down through the centuries to our day]. Ga 4:29, 30

        While it is true that those not anointed cannot tell, other than by direct revelation from God [Mat 16:17], that someone is anointed, those who have been adopted as His sons are absolutely certain of their anointing, because the Holy Spirit is bearing witness to them from that very moment on. Ro 8:14-16; Phil 1:6

        The anointing to heavenly life is absolute and irreversible, and the resulting enlightenment is about all basic truths revealed in the Holy Scriptures, without ANY false teachings [1 John 2:27], followed by maturity and endurance to the end.

        This means that ‘Christians’ who have a desire to live here on earth and those who are not sure whether they are anointed, are definitely not born of God and called to heaven.

        Of course, Christ warned us of false Christ’s [fake anointed ones] who would, if possible, mislead even the chosen ones; hence the need for God’s Spirit to test everybody and their teachings of those who claim to be a ‘Christian.’ 1John 4:1; Re 2:2

      2. None of this proves that anointing and maturity are the same thing. Maturity is the result of experience (see Hebrews 5:14). Maturity can come without anointing, many mature people will live on earth, see above. Similarly, anointing and enlightenment are different things. Many call themselves the anointed, but the chosen ones will be few. It was said by Jesus, not by me.

        Right, ‘anointing does not depend on the level of knowledge and the degree of enlightenment,’ but those things WILL BE the result of a genuine anointing.

        This is what I am writing. The sealing is a matter of the FUTURE (Rev. 7:1-4). The anointing is a matter exclusively of God, not of men. I don’t see the goal of this discussion at all. Did Jesus set such goals for the apostles? Never. Why we argue about it now and take on the judgment of God? I am sure the attempts to define the anointed ones today are an opposition to God. Let’s leave it at that.

        Although, if you want, write, why do you need immortality? For what purpose?

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