"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

--Isaiah 1:18 - circa 740-680 B.C.

Things which are equal to the same thing are also equal to one another.

Things which coincide with one another are equal to one another.

The whole is greater than the part.

--Axioms 1,4 & 5

There once was a fish that leapt out of it's fish bowl, placed a sombrero upon its head, picked up a nearby Spanish guitar, and began strumming accompaniment to its own rich tenor of a voice warbling-- as only a goldfish can --Mozart's, The Marriage of Figaro. This is enough to label the start of a great story as completely and utterly fictitious, and rightly so; It is, after all, preposterous.

But how about this one: God decides before ever He makes man, that He'll one day take on human flesh, and die a human death, that His pure, untainted blood will make reconciliation possible for every man, woman and child, who will otherwise be condemned to eternal separation from Him in a literal, burning, fiery demense called the Lake of Fire... But only on the condition they accept His free gift with whole heart, and believe that, being God, Death could not hold Him, and so He raised Himself up after 3 days by His own power.

Sound preposterous? Well, if things which are equal to the same thing are also equal to each other, and if things which coincide with one another be equal to one another, then yes, the second statement is also preposterous.

Without looking deeper both statements are false. So let's look deeper.

As to the goldfish--

1) Goldfish cannot live out of water. They have no lungs and therefore cannot breathe air.

2) Even if a Goldfish did leap out of its bowl it could not stand upon the ends of its tail, or place anything upon its head since it has not the mechanisms for grasping and manipulating what is grasped.

3) As the Goldfish could not hold anything in its fin, it certainly couldn't pick up a nearby Guitar-- assumed to be a standard sized guitar because it is Spanish, and therefore made with the assumption that a human would play it.

4) Since the Goldfish could not pick up the guitar in question, it therefore could never strum it.

5) though it has yet to be proven conclusively-- to my knowledge, at least --that Goldfish have vocal chords (and even if they did, without lungs and air passing over said vocal chords) they most certainly cannot sing, let alone speak.

6) And lastly, though it has yet to be proven conclusively-- to my knowledge, at least --it's a safe assumption that Goldfish have no capacity to understand human language, and so could never articulate the words of any portion of Mozart's, The Marriage of Figaro or any other literary work musical or otherwise.

7) Therefore, the first tale is unquestionably false.


As to the second tale:

1) It relies on the assumption that God did indeed inhabit human flesh. This is borne out in Isaiah 7:14, 9:6, 54:5, Jeremiah 23:6, 33:16, Matthew 1:23, Luke 1:26-35, John 1:1-2,14,29¹,36, 8:56-58, Acts 20:28, 1 Timothy 3:16, Revelation 1:1-11, 5:12, 19:11-16, 21:5-7, 21:22-23, 22:12-20... To name a few.

2) Relies also on the veracity of God's word. Can God be trusted to tell the truth? See Detour, Part 2 for an indepth look into this aspect of God's nature.

3) Assumes that the blood of God is the only substance capable of washing away the sins of the world.

4) As none of the 3 previous assumptions violates any physical laws-- as with the Goldfish --in respect to God, His nature, or his capacity to perform the miraculous², one must therefore conclude that the second tale is at least reasonably true.


In Isaiah, chapter one, God pleads with Israel, and attempts to reason with her...

"Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it." --Isaiah 1:16-20

And this has always been His focus. To see Israel-- and in a more spiritual sense, all nations through Israel --repent and enjoy the blessings of God. But if being good and learning how to "do well, seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, [and] plead for the widow" were enough, what need would man need of sacrifice or blood? Herein is where logic finds its usefulness in interpretation.

Let's indulge in a bit of creation, to establish a set of guides for interpreting and comparing verses of scripture, in respect to their application.

Axioms of Translation:

1-- God cannot lie
2-- The truth of one statement cannot negate the truth of another statement
3-- If the truths two or more verses appear to be contradictory, the verses must be viewed as possessing dissimilar contexts

What this means is: As God cannot lie, if two seemingly similar verses appear to contradict, the context, or underlying meaning of one must differ from the other.

In application: John 10:28-30, Luke 9:62, Mark 4:3-9, 14-20

And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one.

And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred. And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.... The sower soweth the word. And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended. And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.

In John 10:28-30, Jesus claims that those to whom He gives eternal life shall never perish, that no one can pluck them from the Father's hand, and therefore no one can pluck them from His [Jesus'] hand³.

But with Luke 9:62 Jesus says those who turn back after having began their walk with Him, they are unfit for the Kingdom of God.

Many Christians take Luke 9:62 to mean that Salvation, once given, can be lost should one turn away from God. But to believe this is to negate what was stated in John 10:28-30. Since it is an absolute truth that once one is the recipient of eternal life through Christ Jesus that one cannot be plucked from the fathers hand by anyone, then Luke 9:62 must have a different context.

That context is offered in Mark 4:3-9, 14-20. Some never see the germination of God's word in their hearts because Satan has stolen the word. Some see germination occur but because they lack root, the word quickly dies in them. Still others are choked by their love of the world and all the things in it. Only a few ever see the word of God prosper in their hearts and grow and bring forth fruit. Quite simply, those who turn back, and therefore being unfit for the kingdom of God, must never have seen the word of God take genuine root in their hearts to begin with, and are therefore not in possession of eternal life at all.

Many will argue this point, but the fact remains... God cannot lie. So if a man confesses faith in God, His son Jesus, and the fact that God raised Him from the dead⁴, and in short order turns away from God, living a Godless life, and like a dog, returns to his vomit⁵, THAT man must examine the truth of his conversion or risk dying-- as all men must --and discovering too late that he was never a child of God. God's word does not return void. It always accomplishes its purpose: To either save the hearer from the sure punishment of Hell, or to judge him on the last day. Our heartfelt decisions determine the return.

Some verses appear to build upon each other, adding more layers of complexity, but unless God's word states specifically that these verses are in addition to the first, the scope and breadth of the first verse [or point of doctrine] is unchanged, and any requirements demanded by these later verses, while related, should be viewed as being more illuminating, but not more taxing.

Example: Is water baptism a requirement for entry into heaven?

Romans 10:9 states that one must only confess with the mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in the heart that God has raised him from the dead to be saved.

So, to be saved one must...

1-- Make verbal confession of who Jesus is. He is Lord of lords and King of kings⁶
2-- Hold to the heartfelt belief that He has been raised from the dead

...And that's all.

Water Baptism therefore is above and beyond, but not in addition to, Romans 10:9...

1-- Confession is made, inwardly, silently, privately, openly, publicly, etc.
2-- Equal partner to this confession is the firm belief that Jesus has been raised from the dead
3-- Water Baptism is then a public confession of the aforementioned inward confession, as well as the public acceptance of fellowship into the worldwide body of believers-- The Bride of Christ.

All believers SHOULD be baptized, which is symbolic of the new birth (full immersion is implied here), but baptism is not always feasible, as in deathbed confessions. As to requirements for Baptism, there is only one, as demonstrated by Phillip with the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:36-37...

"And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."

Belief is the only requirement. Why? How else can one be saved without belief, as in Romans 10:9?

I could go on and on but the point is made. God has not made this thing called 'Salvation' burdensome or difficult. It is easily understood by the simplest of men by the exercising of just a little logic and common sense.


----
1 "Taketh away the sin of the world": As opposed to simply covering, "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins." Hebrews 10:4. The penalty of sin is death, and as life is in blood, Leviticus 17:11, blood is the requirement for the covering of sin.
2 Miraculous-- Defined as an occurrence beyond human understanding and capability.
3 "I and my father are one" --verse 30, John 10
4 Romans 10:9
5 Proverbs 26:11
6 1 Timothy 6:15, Revelation 17:14, Revelation 19:16

---------

Next:
Interlude No. 2

Previously:
Detour, Part 6 - Types and Antitypes
Detour, Part 5 - Jesus of Nazareth and Statistical Improbabilities
In Preparation for Detour, Part 5 - Exhibit B
In Preparation for Detour, Part 5 - Exhibit A
Detour, Part 4 - Comparing Translations to Established Christian Doctrines
Interlude No.1
Detour, Part 3 - Manuscripts, Translations, and "Why the KJV?"
Detour, Part 2 - The Nature and Limits of God... and why this is important
Detour, Parenthetical - "What Will Shortly Follow"
Detour, Part 1 - "Preamble"
Warning: Detour Ahead