Posted on 06/07/2011 5:23:32 PM PDT by pastorbillrandles
This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.(I John 1:5)
As we noted earlier, John’s ministry is a ministry of restoration. The faith has been frayed, tangled and torn to the point where the believers whom John addressed were confused as to who knew God genuinely and who didn’t. What does it mean to “know him who is from the beginning”? To “be strong and have the Word of God abiding in you”?
Most importantly, who is the God and Father of Jesus Christ? What is His nature? Who is Jesus? How should we understand His person? What is eternal life and who truly possesses it?
The effect of the heresies , pretensions, boasting, false words, spiritual elitism and mysticism of the gnostics always demoralizes and confuses the saints on the basic level of the questions above.
The restoration to the wholesome, sincere christian faith once delivered to us by the Apostles, must of necessity begin with the presentation of the “only true God”. The revelation of God comes to us in three theological propositions. God is Light…God is Love…and Jesus Christ has come and remains in the flesh.
What is the meaning of the statement, God is Light, and in him is no darkness at all? Light is an oft used metaphor to describe certain attributes and perfections of God.
For example, we are told God dwells in light which is unapproachable. Light here being the very emblem of purity and splendor.
…the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.(I Timothy 6;15-16)
The property of Light is that it reveals… all things are naked and open before Him with whom we have to do… . God is light, in Him all things are revealed in their true nature. Hypocrisy is shortsighted because “there is nothing hidden that shall not be revealed…“.
Coming to the “only true God” is coming into the Light, where all is seen for what it truly is. Isaiah had an encounter with the true God, which caused him to pronounce prophetic woes upon himself! In God’s light we see ourselves as we are, not as we imagine ourselves to be, and it can be terrible.
In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple…Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.(Isaiah 6:1-5)
Peter had a similar experience. As a professional Fisherman, he thought Jesus was just another preacher until Jesus performed a miracle, filling his nets to overflowing with fish.
So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” (Luke 5:7-8)
Because God is light and in Him is no darkness at all, anyone who has truly met God, has had this kind of experience. Like Peter and Isaiah, they have seen God, and abhorred themselves as sinners to the core ! They are transformed from self lovers, to self abhorrence, in the light of the Holy God!
On the contrary, the gnostics are not concerned at all with sin, or sinfulness. Their light doesn’t expose sin, in fact they deny that sin is a hindrance to a relationship with God. To them, light refers to revelation knowledge, without moral content.
That is why deceivers such as Todd Bentley can continue in ‘prophetic ministry’ after leaving his wife and marrying another. Other seducers, such as Rick Joyner endorse and encourage Bentley and his ilk, because to them Bentley’s “revelations” and “miracles” are all that matters, not his morality.
This is also why John had to speak what seems like the obvious,
…God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:(I John 1:5-6)
and sadly this needs to be repeated,
…Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning.(I John 3:7-8)
Shouldn’t this be obvious? Not anymore, after so many years of Joyner, Hinn, C0peland, Hagin, and Steve Hill , there are many for whom this is not so obvious. Their Nets have been tangled, snarled and torn, and their faith is shattered.
They have been presented with a God who is not Light, not in the sense of moral splendor, Righteousness, exposure and repudiation of evil. The God of the Bentley’s and Rodney Howard Brownes of this world is a false god of false light.
To them the Apostle speaks anew, The only true God is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all…. .
All this is good but really quite sophomoric after reading the magnificent book which is a theological tour de force by Pope Benedict XVI in Vol I and Vol II of JESUS. The word profound would be an understatement to describe the life-changing insights that are gleaned form this remarkable treatise. More is not needed, not necessary, and is simply hard to rival.
Besides the fact that BXVI wasn't pimping his own blog...
No need for any pimping- just read the book by someone whom the secular media has called the “theological Einstein of our times” The rest is all drivel.
At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. 26Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. 27All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. Matthew 11;25-28
Hey Natural Law,do you consider posting an article about scripture to be “pimping”? I didn’t excerpt the article, it is there in full, why insult me?
Light is a trinity. The visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum is Christ. The absolute properties of light allow us to measure speed, distance and time. The doppler shift can allow any frequency to appear as another frequency
God created a perfect metaphor. A study of light will improve our understanding of God.
The practice of driving traffic to ones own website is known as pimping. You can make up your own mind if it is a pejorative.
Agreed- The highlighted quote you use is a reference to the “wise and prudent” of our material world not to those who seek Divine guidance with humility- Aquinas, Augustine, and Benedict XVI to counter the “wise and prudent” (Dawkins, Hawking etc) who deny the existence of God and his authentic teachings.
be aware that some may crib about using the term “King of Kings” since it was a pagan term and also used for various pagan gods and emperors (like Shahenshah the Emperor of Persia)
Good point my friend, then again I doubt Acquainas or Augustine woud dismiss an earnest yet simple attempt at communicating truth as “sophmoric”. Nor would they castgate the lowly teacher of the basics as being a “Pimp” as Natural Law suggested.
Let's be fair and accurate. I did not call you a pimp, I only pointed out that Pope Benedict XVI was not using his Freeper account to pimp his own blog.
As you know well- sacred scripture is the “Word” of God. Hence if each persons seek to authoritatively deciper this intent without a serious understanding of text, context, culture, history, revelation, and received tradition, we can risk a mangled and erroneous interpretation. The “simple attempt” at communicating the Truth is a tautologous premise because it assumes the communication is Truthful.
Exactly! This is very sound Theology,dear friend
Saint Gregory Nazianzen captures this so beautifully in his 31st discourse....
There was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world, that is, the Father. There was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world, that is, the Son. There was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world , that is, the Comforter. There are three subjects and three verbs - He was and He was and He was. But a single reality was. There are three predicates - light and light and light. But the light is one, God is one. This is the meaning of David’s prophetic vision: In Thy light we shall see light. We receive the Son’s light from the Father’s light in the light of the Spirit: this is what we ourselves have seen and what we now proclaim - it is the plain and simple explanation of the Trinity.-Saint Gregory NazianzenDisc.31,3,11-22; SC 250,280
John 14;25-26 “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.(Hebrews 8:11) Or does this only apply to the Pope and his cradinals?
Well, the Great Commission to go forth and teach all nations assumes there is only one interpretation and one truth to His teachings. You can’t have pastors at FourSquare Churches, and televangelists all seeking to give their interpretations as being the Truth. There is only a single Truth.
Thus interpretation of sacred scripture must assume an unerring and authoritative interpretation as followed in received apostolic tradition- written and verbal; liturgical custom; and revelation. Hence we have this unrivaled intellectual tradition of the Catholic Church and why it attracts the largest number of converts from atheists and from other religious denomination including non-Christians. Volumes I and II of Benedict XVI’s JESUS ranks up there with St. Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologica.
Show me one place in my article where I diverged from apostolic teaching.
To say: “The revelation of God comes to us in three theological propositions,” is painfully simplistic. To many the revelation of God comes in His Resurrection; The Blood of Martyrs; the Holy Eucharist; Personal Experience-like the stigmatists; the visionaries at Lourdes and Fatima;; the lives of the Saints; the Wonder of the Cosmos; and the Church He founded.
Steelfish- please be reasonable, I was not saying that the entire revelation of God comes in three propositions, I am commenting on a specific text- I John-which contains the three theological propositions . This article is part of a series I have been doing on First john. I would be happy to talk further with you, but not if you are going to be obtuse.
OK- my apologies if that was the limited context of your discussion.
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