EVERYBODY IS AN INTERPRETER WHETHER WE LIKE TO ADMIT IT OR NOT. Regardless Of Our Objective We May Attempt To Be, There Will Always Be An Element Of Interpretation Based Upon Our Own Worldview. When it comes to the Ten Commandments, we can be assured that there is no difference, however, how we interpret a thing is another matter, because much depends upon what we are using for our interpretation—our own opinion or some other standard.

How can you interpret the 10 commandments?

Happy Riches answer requested by anonymous

You can interpret the Ten Commandments anyway you like, if you want. Or you can seek to understand the true meaning of the Ten Commandments, as originally meant.

The Ten Commandments may have been known by the Buddha. As Siddhartha Gautama’s Four Noble Truths and his Eight-fold path appear to be an interpretation of the Ten Commandments. This is entirely possible because Moses did exist before the Buddha, who is believed to have been born no earlier than 563 BCE or probably 480 BCE and died 80 years later. Moses was born around 1526 BCE and died 120 years later, nearly some one thousand years before Siddhartha Guatama felt his first sense displeasure—the pain of birth.

The book Seeking God’s Voice compares the Buddha’s ideas with the Ten Commandments and demonstrates how the Four Noble Truths and the tenets of the Eight-fold path breakdown to corresponding to the Ten Commandments.

Rather than interpret the Ten Commandments according to one’s own understanding, it is best to be as objective as one can be, because the Ten Commandments are the standard of righteousness by which humans are going to be judged. After all, Jesus of Nazareth did say that Heaven and Earth would pass away before the Ten Commandments would (Matthew 5:18).

Actually, Jesus interpreted the Ten Commandments when He gave His Sermon on the Mount. Those who understand the Ten Commandments have no problem in grasping this, those who are ignorant of God’s truth herald different ideas in respect to the Beatitudes superseding the Ten Commandments. Yet the Ten Commandments are the only words that the Bible states God Himself wrote with His Own Finger.

The Ten Commandments Were Designed For You To Enjoy And Possess Life

CHRISTIANITY COMES IN THREE FORMS: FALSE, COMPROMISED AND TRUE. Unfortunately, Most People Are Only Familiar With the False And Compromised Forms Of Christianity. Compromised Christianity is really a false form, because true Christianity stands alone.

What are things about Christianity that everybody should know and/or be aware of?

Happy Riches answer requested by Carlos McNeil

Christianity comes in three forms: false, compromised and true.

False Christianity is that where people believe they are Christian by virtue of being born into a culture that purportedly is Christian. False Christianity is any form that has a hierarchy of leaders that rule over those below them. False Christianity is that which forbids people to marry or eat foods that God has created. False Christianity is that which does not recognize the need to be born again, through repentance and exercising faith towards God. False Christianity is any manifestation in its name that turns people away from salvation through faith in Lord Jesus Christ alone.

Compromised Christianity is where people claim that God blessed them to become football players or any other kind of sports player or blessed their army to defeat another army. Compromised Christianity occurs when people who believe in Lord Jesus Christ pursue a career rather then seeking God. Compromised Christianity occurs when people who have been born from above do not bear fruit of righteousness in their lives that brings God the glory.

True Christianity is evidenced when people walk with God and do what is required. This is because the Kingdom of the God is not of this world and there is no need to seek self-aggrandizement, rather to seek the counsel of the Father and do His will. Doing this, could mean being like Moses and having to wait forty years or more before the will of God in one’s life is made manifest. Or as in the case of John the Baptist, who was born surrounded by the Holy Spirit, some thirty-years may pass before God’s purpose is made manifest.

• For he will be great before the Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.And he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God. (Luke 1:15–16)

False Christianity denies Lord Jesus Christ and His purpose. Compromised Christianity has people being in love with the world. True Christianity recognizes that the Kingdom of God is not of this world and the people live by faith in the Son of God, Lord Jesus Christ.

True Christianity Acknowledges The Kingdom Of God Is Not Of This World

WOMAN REJECTS CATHOLICISM BUT STILL HAS CRISIS OVER ISSUES TO DO WITH GETTING MARRIED IN A ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. People Attribute Too Much To Such Insignificance Matters Within The Grander Scheme Of Life That They Suffer Unnecessarily. If everyone were able to address the most important matters first, the lesser matters would not have the power over them that they think.

How can I tell my Catholic parents I don't want a church marriage? I’m ex-Catholic agnostic.

I love my boy friend, but if he cheated/abuse me I’ll divorce him (I told him so). I think swearing in front of God that I’d be with him no matter what is false promise. I hate the bullshit they force new couples to learn before getting permission to marry,and the stupid sermons like my sisters’ weddings.

Happy Riches answer requested by Kiva Ann

I am a Christian, not a Roman Catholic. Roman Catholicism has its own traditions and belief system that incorporates some of what is found in the Bible. It rejects the elements of the Bible that do not concur with its pagan beliefs. This is why the second commandment of the Decalogue is omitted in its teachings and also the following:

• Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by giving heed to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, through the pretensions of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and enjoin abstinence from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. (1 Timothy 4:1–3)

But you are not asking why marriage is forbidden. You are seeking a way to tell your parents you do not want to get married in a Roman Catholic church.

From what you have written, the impression that I get is that you are expressing frustration in all of this.

The best advice I can give you is the most important thing for everyone, which is to first establish where we stand in relation to our Creator in the event that were to die before our time. You may think that this is bull, but according to the world clock there are 153,424.70 deaths each day. How many of these people do you think were expecting to die today?

Once you have sorted out your eternal destiny, then the issue of marriage and the significance of your relationship with your boyfriend will be easier to work out. For if you are both still in agreement about living in accord to the ways of righteousness, which means loving each other within the favor of the Living God, then happiness should be yours. First things first.

Relationships Are The Very Essence Of Life So Why Do People Abuse Each Other?

CHRISTIAN TEENAGER HAS CRUSH ON A MODEL WITH VITILIGO AND WANTS TO KNOW WHETHER THIS IS A HEALTHY STATE OF BEING. What Many People Think Is Innocuous May Not Necessarily Be So. Unfortunately, too many teenagers are caught up seeking someone to worship but do not realize that what they worship is unhealthy.

I'm a Christian teenager, I have a crush on a model and I have a picture of her on my phone as alockscreen, is this sinful? (She has Vitiligo)

Happy Riches Written Nov 14 Answer requested by anonymous

For you to answer your own question, you will need to understand what is sin. If you do not understand what is sin, you will not know whether what you are doing is sinful or not. (If you are deluded, you might even think that what you propose is a joke, but I will take you seriously.)

Laws are introduced when people refuse to abide by behavior that is beneficial to the common good of other citizens. Vandalism laws need to be introduced when people decide to damage other people’s property or public property, otherwise anarchy would reign and the only law that would exist is the law of the jungle—the most savage and the strongest survive until they are too decrepit to defend themselves against attackers.

Sin occurs when we violate the laws of God, of which there are ten, that were designed so people would know what is required of them in respect to the relationships they have with each other and their Creator.

A vandal, after having keyed a car, will walk off thinking that all is okay because he has not been caught. A thief will steal another person’s property and think himself (or herself) intelligent because he got away without being caught. Three youth, after bashing an old man and robbing him, will think they are really a cut above other morons who get caught. A rapist might think he can rape whoever he likes because of his position of power—such people do exist. Eventually, there does come a day of reckoning, regardless of how long a person lives—when the smiles are wiped of everyone’s faces. Eternity is a long time, and it would be grossly unfair if people were able to walk away from their sins without any accountability—don’t you agree?

Now if you understand the Ten Commandments, and are fully aware of their implications, then you will know whether your crush on your idol is sinful—a violation of the laws of relationship. If I were to tell you that your actions were not sinful, and they were, then you would want to know why. But then, maybe not. Likewise, the same may occur if I were to say they were sinful—but then maybe not.

The Ten Commandments Were Designed For You To Enjoy And Possess Life

GEORGE LAMSA'S TRANSLATION OF THE PESHITTA IS FROM THE ARAMAIC INTO ENGLISH. Some People Question The Value Of Lamas's Translation, But There May Be Some Value. Much depends on what a person is looking for and whether a person is open to the learning truth.

Where can I find the quote "he who is without sin will cast the first stone" from the Bible, in Aramaic?

Happy Riches requested by Alice Holmer Lazar

In the English language, the best translation of an Aramaic Bible for you to read would be George Lamsa‘s Translation of the Peshitta.  In Lamsa’s translation, you will find the story of the woman caught in adultery. However, the story of the woman taken in adultery was not part of the original Peshitta.

The Old Testament teaching was that the a woman caught in adultery was to be put to death.

• If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death. (Leviticus 20:10)

The book of Proverbs says:

• He who commits adultery has no sense; he who does it destroys himself. (Proverbs 6:32)

From what we read in the book of Proverbs, social opprobrium might have been sufficient penalty for a man to commit adultery. For in the case of King David and Bathsheba, he was terrified of being found out for having impregnated Bathsheba.
There is nothing about actually stoning a person, who commits adultery in the Old Testament, that I know exists in the same way as those, who are to be stoned, who consult the occult, or offer up a child sacrifice, or blaspheme the name of the Lord, or do not keep the Sabbath.

Even in the case of an ox killing someone, not only is the ox is to be stoned but the owner is to be put to death also.

• But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death. (Exodus 21:29)

Now it could be assumed that death was to be done by stoning; although we know there are other ways of putting people to death that are not so time consuming.

A man or woman who commits adultery is not specifically mentioned as being required to be stoned; only to be put to death. This could be the reason the original Peshitta does not have verses 1–9 of John, chapter 8.

• they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such. What do you say about her?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the eldest, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus looked up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again.” (John 8:4–11)

Who knows? The scribes who compiled the Peshitta may have thought that the Aramaic speaking people still wanted to stone or kill adulterers. But it may be that they did not see that this was truly biblical because the Old Testament does not specifically require stoning of adulterers. They may have thought the idea of forgiving adulterers too radical and thought that this passage promoted promiscuity and a breakdown of the family fabric that forms the basis of society.

What we do see is that Jesus merely began writing with his finger in the ground and seemed to take no notice of the woman’s accusers. Then they persisted in their accusation. Nevertheless, they got the message when Jesus said, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” For by Jesus writing in the ground, the accusers seemed to get the idea of God writing the Ten Commandments, which they themselves knew they had violated at least once in their miserable lives, if not more than once.

For Many Reasons Things Occur. Why We Know Not. Yet Some We Ought To Know

GOD CHOOSES SOME BUT OTHERS ARE THE OBJECT OF HIS WRATH AND THIS IS BIZARRE FOR A LOVING CREATOR, AT LEAST THIS IS THE CLAIM MADE BY SOME INDIVIDUALS. The Bizarre Nature Of This Claim That An Omniscient God Would Give People Freewill And Then Disregard That Freewill Suggests Faulty Reasoning At Play. When any reasonable person begins to think about the God of love being the God of wrath, alarm bells go off.

If God only saves those he chooses but you are one of his objects of wrath, will God listen if you beg Him to save you from your fate?

Happy Riches answer requested by anonymous

The question assumes that the teaching of predestination before a person is born into this world is actually what the Bible teaches.

Those who subscribe to the concepts known as TULIP believe that God created people just to punish them eternally in Hell.

People who subscribe to ideas of predestination or predetermination are basically self-righteous hypocrites who think they are a cut above other people and have the right to do evil whenever they want without consequence because they are exempt from being judged and any punishment from wrongdoing (Hillary Clinton types—Satanists who drink blood and sperm).

Many ask the question of why does God create beauty and yet permit children to suffer from starvation, as per the accompanying image.



What seems to be most people’s problem is coming to grips with the reality that there are two gods that reign on Earth. One is the God of the Universe and the other is the god of this world.

The God of the Universe created the beauty that you see in the above half of the picture. The god of the world created the bottom half of the picture.

The reason the situation (where we see beauty and death exists) is because certain creatures have been given freewill.

First, the being that held the highest position among God’s creatures decided to use his freewill to oppose his Creator’s purpose. In doing this, he seduced another of God’s creatures to partake of something that would cause her to violate reason and follow her lusts. The woman’s husband saw her do what was prohibited and survive, so he willingly challenged God by disregarding Him and plunged headlong into captivity.

When the man listened to the voice of deception, he handed over his right to reign on Earth in Paradise to the deceiver, who became the god of this world. The deceiver has no intention of people enjoying life and influences them to do evil instead—in violation of what is right.

Humans are now born into captivity and sin surrounds them. Sin is a state where the gestalt of this world is controlled by the activity of the Evil One, who influences the thinking and the desires of people towards selfish destruction. Rather than populating the planet and having ample food, the Evil One causes people to reject the purpose of God and destroy the goodness their Creator desired.

The possession of freewill is the only hope a person has of changing his or her world. But freewill brings responsibility. Responsibility means becoming one’s brother’s keeper. Now if a person rejects the fact that they have the freewill to love another and they will be held responsible for this, they can only wish truth and judgment does not exist. This is why the Bible teaches:

• If any one says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. (1 John 4:20)

• Any one who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. (1 John 3:15)

Unless people recognize that they are inherently selfish and they are in need of forgiveness, they cannot begin to exercise faith towards God by doing what is right. Even so, is it not right that such people be held responsible for what they have decided to do by refusing to love their neighbor and making a pretense that they are righteous?

You might think that it is wrong for people to be responsible for their any of their own decisions. But justice is only available to those who have freewill and are held responsible for their own decisions. In which case, those who are objects of God’s wrath—righteous judgment—are those who reject their responsibility to love their neighbor as themselves. The Bible teaches that murderers have not eternal life abiding in them, nor do those who hate other people.

The Defining Criteria Of Whether You Will Live Are Based Upon The Decalogue

JUDAS ISCARIOT SOLD OUT HIS MASTER FOR A FEW PENNIES ON THE DIME, SO TO SPEAK. Yet There Is A Gospel Attributed To Him Know As "The Gospel Of Judas", Which Is Rather Odd When You Think About It. What good news would Judas have to say about the man he sent to the cross after he himself committed suicide.

Do any scholars or groups today hold the Gospel of Judas to be a factual account?

Happy Riches, Answer requested by Henry Bartholomew

In the Gospel of Judas we find an account where Jesus says to His disciples that none of them will know Him.

• Jesus said to them, “How do you know me? Truly [I] say to you, no generation of the people that are among you will know me.”

That false attribution alone is sufficient to disqualify the gospel as worthy of being within the Christian Canon, for that statement is counter to what is written in the Gospel of John:

• Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more, but you will see me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” (John 14:19-21)

The Gospel of Judas parchment is considered to be an authentic work from the period pertaining to the third century. But this writing is not considered to be an authentic writing by Judas Iscariot. Rather, the writer argues that God is responsible for evil; also men do not have freewill. This is a doctrine of the devil that is willing accepted by the self-righteous; so they can commit iniquity and still think they can possess the righteousness of God through Lord Jesus Christ. However, the gospel of Judas goes further and states:

• Judas [said] to him, “I know who you are and where you have come from. You are from the immortal realm of Barbelo. And I am not worthy to utter the name of the one who has sent you.

No genuine biblical scholar, or any other scholar who is deserving of being called a scholar, would accept the Gospel of Judas worthy of anything other than the bin.

People Reject The Truth Only To Prove That In Reality They Are Fools

SIN AND SHAME GO TOGETHER BUT NOT UNTIL A PERSON RECOGNIZES WHAT SIN IS DOES HE OR SHE FEEL SHAME. Shame Is That Painful Sense Of Sorrow And Unworthiness That Come From Having Dishonored One's Own Sense Of Integrity. Shame on occurs when a person feels remorse for having done something to another person that violates their rights; something that one would not like done unto oneself.

The Bible implies if a person sins they become aware of their sin and feel shame. How is it possible many people sin without knowing they are sinning?

Im not talking about psychopaths here but just ordinary people who live without an awareness of God or their sin, which seem to be most people actually. How can they be blamed if they are not even aware that what they are doing is sin?

Harry Riches, Have a genuine relationship with Lord Jesus Christ. Not merely academic.

Written Nov 10 Answer requested by Diane Shatto

Sin is a word that many people do not understand. In particular, sin is the violation of the Ten Commandments. Since people do not know the Ten Commandments, let alone understand them or have any comprehension of how they cover every aspect of human behavior, when sinning, they are not aware of the fact they are sinning.

However, people feel shame when they do something that is not socially approved. Erik Erickson postulated that shame is something that children learn around the age of two, the second stage in his theory of psychosocial development—which I concur is a reliable rationale for understanding development of the individual.

During this second stage of development, known as “the terrible two’s”, children are renown for demonstrating their willfulness and asserting their rights as individuals.

Children begin to feel shame when they disobey their parents and understand that this is wrong. The extent to which children recognize this as sin is another matter.
In the Bible, we read the Apostle Paul’s statement concerning the natural conscience:

• When Gentiles who have not the law do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or perhaps excuse them. (Romans 2:14–15)

The law that is being spoken of here is the internal recognition of what is right and wrong—otherwise known as our conscience. As children, we learn to excuse our behavior, but not necessarily other people’s behavior. Consequently, we will learn to lie about other people but hate other people bearing false witness against us, or even telling us lies. We will steal from other people, but disapprove of somebody taking anything without permission that belongs to us.

When social behaviors violate what we know to be wrong and becomes commonplace, and we accept it, we sear our conscience. When our own behavior violates our internal recognition of right and wrong, we sear our conscience, if we habitually persist in that behavior. We will sin and have no recognition of sinning because we have learned to suppress any conflicting thoughts. Excusing ourselves for doing what we know to be wrong is how this is done. Shame only comes when our evil deeds are exposed for what they are.

• For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. (John 3.20)

The reason people sin, and keep on sinning, without feeling any compunction is they have seared their consciences and do not feel any confliction within their hearts or minds. Those that become aware of their wrongdoing and believe they are becoming debased, begin to feel shame, because they know that humans are not animals. They know that right and wrong exists. They know they have the ability to choose.

A sharpened conscience is like the rudder on a ship. It guides us through dangerous waters and sees to it that we survive the terrors of torment, by recognizing the truth. A conscience that has been suffocated leads people into evil and eventually to a place where they believe evil is good and wrong is right and telling falsehoods is acceptable—certain politicians are more renowned than others for this, and those who knowingly support them are just as culpable.

Discerning Truth Is Impossible If We Have No Absolute Guide To Inform Us

THE CREATOR APPEARS TO BE A TYRANT, BUT THE TRUTH IS WHEN IT COMES TO THE FINAL SAY, HE ALONE HAS THE RIGHT TO JUDGE HIS CREATION. However, What We Think About God Has To Do With Our Misconceptions Rather Than What Is True. Reality tells us we were born but to die and we really need to know what happens for the rest of eternity beforehand, if we are wise and have the opportunity.

Is God a tyrant because he condemns ignorant people?

I cannot put the entire details in text so I attached an image:

Harry Riches Answer requested by anonymous

Pinocchio is the story about a puppet that comes to life and believes people will believe the lies that he tells. Every time the puppet told a lie, his nose grew. Oddly enough, the noses of humans grow longer the older they get. Now whether the length of a person’s nose is proportionate to the number of lies a person tells could not be true—or could it? Let’s suppose, instead of having a 1 inch nose, a person told lies and ended up having a 2 inch nose, or, a person who had a 2 inch nose ended up with a longer nose, this would mean everyone is a liar. Anyhow, that is the story of Pinocchio, who thought he could lie to his creator.

I knew a man, whose nose grew longer every year (LOL), who would say that God does not exist because he has not struck me down dead yet. Every time he told a lie, he would say may God strike me down dead if I am telling a lie. Because he did not die, he would say, “You see, I am not telling a lie.”

Noses grow longer the older we live. So do our ears grow bigger. So does the weight of our sin grow greater. This is why Jesus said:

• At that time Jesus declared, “I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will. All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:25–28)

In the above text, essentially, Jesus makes mention of:

1. those who are wise and understanding in respect to the ways of the world;
2. those who are babes in respect to the ways of the world;
3. those who struggle and are weighed down (by sin).

The people who are have learnt what they have been taught and understand how to politically maneuver their way around the traps are considered smart. Yet those who have not learned to be Machiavellian, when it comes to relationships are babes. Nevertheless, both those who know how to resort to evil and those who may be babes in evil but are self-righteous instead, or have never seen a mirror they have not loved, can still come to the Son of God and find rest.

Ignorant people come in two types. There are those who are willfully ignorant and there are those who are unwittingly ignorant. Nevertheless, some of those who are self-righteous, who love mirrors, or who are connivingly evil, somehow come to their senses and realize that they are burdened by the weight of their sin. This is because some event will happen and they will recognize the evil as being beyond them and then start to contemplate the possibility that something better has to exist. Such individuals are actually beginning to think for themselves.

People who begin to think for themselves realize that other people are not responsible for what they themselves do, and they are not responsible for what other people decide to do. Seriously, tell me one person who is prepared to put his hands up for forty lashes on behalf of someone else, especially when that is the penalty. You know you are not willing to be whipped on behalf of another. I know I am not prepared to be whipped on behalf of someone else; especially, to receive the person’s punishment, so he can be set free.

Now what would you say if someone was to take your punishment instead of you. You would call that person—what?—your savior?—your friend? Would you believe that someone would take the punishment that is rightfully yours instead of you?

No one asked to be born. No one asked to be born just to die. The fact that we die makes our lives futile and meaningless and puts us on the level of a puppet that has no say in what we do. When we begin to think, we start to ask the question, What is the meaning of life on Earth for me?

We can use our imagination and believe whatever we want to believe. We can resist using our imagination and regurgitate what other people tell us to believe: the Earth is billions of years old; we come from monkeys; we were created out of nothing; we come from soup to go through reincarnations to be reabsorbed into soup and become soup again. We can believe whatever nonsense we like or we can seek the truth for our being here.

We could sit down and use our intelligence and reason out that everything appears to have been created; therefore, there must have been a Creator of the Universe and all that exists within it. If the Creator exists, surely, He must know each one of us. And if the Creator knows us, we must be able to know Him.

Contrary to that reasoning, we could say there is no Creator. Therefore I am going to whatever I like, to whoever I like, whenever I like, wherever I like and everybody can go and…. People who have this attitude, read the Bible and point to the Scripture that says those who do not believe are condemned and then act like Pinocchio.
Those who are wise acknowledge what the Bible really states:

• Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. (Isaiah 1:18)

Much depends on whether a person wants to remain ignorant or whether a person generally wants to know his or her Heavenly Father. You have an earthly father, and if you had never met him, you would probably want to meet him, if it were possible; how much more your Heavenly Father, who wants to give you more than you could imagine.

Those who reject the right they have to know God are not ignorant. They have made a decision to do evil or willfully oppose their Creator. Their actions invite condemnation, and because they are not prepared to acknowledge that their punishment has been waivered, they will have to bear it themselves. Hence, whoever does not accept as true that they can have eternal life and have it abundantly, choose to accept the condemnation of death—only spiritual death is not like biological death, for the worm (of knowing what you could have had) will never cease (Isaiah 66:24; Mark 9:47-49).

Our Heavenly Father Sees Our Hearts But He Seeks Only Those Who Desire Truth

WORDS ARE POWERFUL BUT PREPOSITIONS ARE OFTEN DISMISSED AS BEING OF LITTLE CONSEQUENCE. Prepositions Are In Fact Very Important Words That Are Made From Few Letters, Often Only Two. Little do people realize relationships hinge on small matters, and a preposition is often thought of being a small word.

What is the difference between 'the Bible is written TO us' vs. 'the Bible is written FOR us'?

Happy Riches, Answer requested by Diane Shatto

The word “to” and the word “for” are prepositions. Prepositions are very important words because they always indicate relationships.

Unfortunately, many people tend to overlook the significance of prepositions. Maybe this is why relationships are a problem in most people’s lives and there is so much disrespect, aggression and violence in this world that we live.

The preposition “to” is used to indicate the direction a person is heading, how one thing relates to another or the fact something is likely to happen. For instance: “I am going to Heaven.” “I look to him for advice.” “I am looking forward to having a pity party with fellow fiends as we suffer our eternal punishment.”

You will notice that when using the preposition “to” in “I look to him” we have need of a reason to make complete sense of the statement. In which case, an indirect object is required, such as the prepositional phrase “for advice”.

The preposition “for” is used to indicate the purpose of a thing. For instance: “Words are used for encouragement and enlightenment.” Or, “The standard is used for measuring compliance.” Hence, the idea of the Bible being written for us, includes the connotation of purpose.

To say that “the Bible is written to us” is actually, in my view, an incorrect use of the preposition. The correct usage, I would say in the context of the grammatical construction, would be the sentence “The Bible is written for us.”

The word “to” although expressing a relationship between “the Bible” and “us” is inferring that the power is in the Bible and not the writer. The sentence, “The Bible is written to us from God” would be more acceptable. Or even, along the lines of “The Bible was written by inspired writers to the people inhabiting the Earth.” Or: “The words contained in the Bible were written to the Jews and the Gentiles.

While it is true that there are unnecessary words used that do nothing to contribute to the meaning of a sentence, words are very important. Those who understand that in the beginning was the Word and the importance of this, are ahead of the pack. In fact, Jesus even said that if you believe what you say will happen, it shall come to pass (Mark 11:23). This indicates the importance of words. But we humans tend to speak rubbish, so what we say brings about nothing of worth—which probably explains why the idea of junk DNA came into being.

Anyhow, for the perceptive, the significance of what I have written is found in Genesis, chapter eleven, verses one and six.

Words Are Extremely Important, Especially The Only Words Written By God

RELIGIOUS SCULPTURE COULD HAVE MORE MEANING IMPUTED BY THE ARTIST THAT PEOPLE TODAY THINK. The Possibility Exists That There Is A Significant Reason For Heads Being Tilted To One Side In Preference To The Other. Theology in art is not a foreign concept since religious art is the symbolism of meaning.

Why are sculptures of Jesus' crucifixion more likely to have his head tilted to the right than to the left?

I just visited the Metropolitan Museum at NYC today and noticed such an interesting phenomenon as in the title. Does this have any theological implications, or artistic element,  or is that just a coincidence that when the first sculpture of the crucifixion was made, its head was to the right and then everyone followed that sculptor?

Happy Riches Answer requested by Seán McNally

At a guess, I would say that this would have to be an unconscious depiction by the artists. On the other hand, the original sculptures would have had a belief system imputed to them that were the consequences of a right/wrong, right/left dialectic.

It is not just a coincidence that in the English language we have the ideas of right and left, and right and wrong, with the idea of what is right being good and true. Yet, surprisingly, progressives who reject the righteousness of God, claim the left side of politics as their domain rather than the right side, even though the opposite of being right is wrong.

• He will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. Then the King will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’ (Matthew 25:33–34)

When Jesus was speaking about the judgment of the those who are to be saved and those who are to be rejected, we see that He spoke of those on His right side as being acceptable, while those on the left side were unacceptable.

This alone could suggest the reason why any sculpture that represents Jesus would have the head tilted to the right, because the artist wants to convey the person they are sculpturing is looking to the sheep and watching over them. The goats are on the left.

The Right Way Leads To Life But The Wrong Way Progressively Becomes Darker

FAITH IS MORE THAN AN IDEA, FOR EVERYBODY HAS A DEGREE OF FAITH THAT ENABLES EACH ONE TO DO WHAT THEY DO WITH CONFIDENCE. Faith Is something that exercised every day as we go about our daily chores, even when we sleep. Imagine not having the faith to go to sleep for fear a spider might crawl over you in the middle of the night.

What does it mean to approach every day with faith? In other words how do you live by faith?

Try to be specific not a vague general approach. What does it look like to live in the real world by faith? 

Happy Riches

Answer requested by Diane Shatto (Studied at Providence Theological Seminary  Lived in United States and Canada

Published Writer Inc and Forbes)

Faith is a very misunderstood concept. Faith is aligned with ideas of trust and belief and confidence. Unfortunately, too many ignorant people think of faith as meaning being gullible—probably because they have swallowed a camel themselves while trying to strain a gnat (Matthew 23:24).

We learn to trust people, because our relationships with people whom we trust has fostered this. Children trust their mothers because their mothers care for them. Not all mothers care for their children; most do. Mothers who do not care for their children are more the exception than the rule.

Trusting children, who have never been subject to abuse, will accept all that their parents tell them to be true, until the day comes that evidence to the contrary outweighs what they have been taught by them.

The tragedy is the state has introduced secular teaching that informs children their parents are not to be trusted and the school teacher is the authority. Children, who have degrees of insecurity concerning their parents, begin to trust their teachers and the misinformation that they are indoctrinated with. Spending more time at school, rather than listening to their parents, individuals start to believe that what they are taught is absolute truth. Those who can regurgitate the most are heralded as intelligent. Thus affirming a belief system that people who believe what they are taught by dishonest people is the truth. Eventually, confidence is placed in the system by those who are rewarded by the system in some way.

Everyday children who go to school, and who become indoctrinated by the methodology used to condition children, begin to have faith that they can do well at school and start to believe the myth that if they acquire degrees, all well be well for them. Little do they realize that they are being subtly lured into placing faith in a lie rather than the truth.

The Bible tells us that we are to repent from doing our dead works that do not lead to eternal life and exercise faith in God. This means not exercising faith in school teachers or the system, which is really just smoke and mirrors.

Putting faith in God is different to putting faith into an ungodly system, because we have to learn to walk every day believing that our Heavenly Father will honor His Word to us. Actually, the Bible gives us a means by which we can objectively prove God in our lives, if we are genuine—those who are selfish are always found out, because the Son of God examines our hearts (1 Chronicles 28:9; Revelation 2:23).

Faith requires us to give something of ourselves to something or someone. We can give ourselves to the acquisition of knowledge, and we can place our faith in what we believe is our confidence to regurgitate what we have learned. This is really placing faith in oneself. This is not faith towards God. We can put our faith in another human being—many do and get let down. This is not putting our faith in God, though—even if the person is a pastor or priest or shaman or Lama or guru (financial or otherwise).
Faith towards God is about a relationship with our Heavenly Father through the Son of God. This faith grows as we begin to walk with our Savior and learn to trust Him in our daily lives. This does not mean that we become a robot and wait until we hear from Heaven before we do our daily ablutions. Instead, we seek to relate to God and express ourselves in ways that will give Him glory. Consequently, we learn from the words of Jesus:

• Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)

Essentially, those of us who have received the light, understand we have been translated into the spiritual realm of light from the spiritual realm of darkness, which we were born into as humans.

• But rise and stand upon your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and bear witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from the people and from the Gentiles—to whom I send you to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me. (Acts 26:16–18)

The Apostle Paul declared that he had been especially selected to shine his light, but all who have light, shine their light. By faith, we, who possess light, walk each day with our God and delight in sharing the goodness of our light with others. In doing this, our faith begins to grow, particularly as we learn the principles of God and apply them in our lives and see people delight in knowing us because the cobwebs in their minds start to disappear.

• [Those] who thus serve Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. (Romans 14:18)

Of course, God only honors those who honor Him in private. Those who publicly say they honor God, but who in private do evil, fool themselves if they think they are not seen by their Creator. However, if we want to express our faith in God to others, as the Apostle James, the half-brother of Jesus said:

• What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him? (James 2:14)

• Do you want to be shown, you shallow man, that faith apart from works is barren? (James 2:20)

Hence, by seeking the Lord our God in private and then sharing what light we possess with others, as a natural expression of who we are, God is glorified. Life becomes exciting because every day there is something to look forward to in our relationships with God and humans.

The Way Of Faith Is The Only Way The Words Of God Can Be Understood

Comment by Diane Shatto:
What a fantastic answer. Thank you! This is very insightful, Biblically sound and practical. I read the intro to your book too, though I clicked on a couple of chapter links and they were broken links. I am fascinated with the ideas you have in your introduction.