An Esoterikos Kenosis Confession of Faith.

                             

                

    For some time now I have wished to compile this little work of my own beliefs regarding the faith, not for the purpose of enunciating any single doctrine or way, but rather for the edification of myself as to forever shape my ashlar in the shape of the love and perfection of our Father.

  ON THE SON.

Jesus Christ the only son of God, who appeared to the disciples and the apostles, was a manifestation of God in perfect Unity with God and of dual nature with both God and man. The Christ is co-substantial with the father in circular perpetuity.

  ON THE ONENESS OF THE TRINITY.

God exists as three distinct persons in one divine essence: the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. Each person of the Trinity is fully God, co-equal and co-eternal, yet distinct in their roles and relationships. The Trinity is a foundational belief in our faith, reflecting the complex nature of God as revealed in the Bible and affirmed through centuries of theological reflection and church tradition.

          ON BLESSED ASSURANCE. 

Of the brothers there are many who insist that a person can be sure of their salvation, I tend to have a different view on the matter. The question I would ask any of my brothers who believe in Blessed Assurance, is do they have access to the Lamb's Book of Life, and the answer is definitely no. Only the father above truly knows who his elect are. No person is born into salvation. But the man who truly hungers for it, and truly wants a relationship with Jesus in their heart, this is a righteous person, this is a person that God has predestined and called to be his elect. If a person does not want God or doesn't want a relationship with Jesus or lacks a reverence for human life, this person is not of the elect. Any who want salvation who want a relationship with God whether or not they have heard the gospel are automatically counted among the elect. Salvation is by grace alone without works and is based entirely on God's election. Salvation is of the Lord, that it is by His grace, and nothing needs to be added to it.(Matt. 5: 2-6) (Rom. 3: 11, 18; I John 4: 10)

 ON THE ROLE OF GRACE.

The waste of money on evangelization efforts is one of the greatest travesties of the modern body of Christ. The work of our savior Christ upon the cross was for the universal atonement of all people, if a person chooses to live a moral life whether or not they have heard the gospel this person is counted among the elect. Since salvation is through  the grace of Christ Alone, any effort to sanctify  oneself in the image of God is by definition works based and thus denies Jesus's work on the cross. Either salvation is by grace or it is by works. It cannot be a combination of the two. A person may say that they believe in salvation by grace, but if they set forth any act of man's will, such as repentance, faith, baptism, or hearing the gospel, as a condition for obtaining it, then this position must be put on the works side. This is because a life can only be brought to a sinner through the works of the Holy Spirit, and only God commands the spirit. The preaching of the Gospel as to emotionally manipulate people into an endorphin produced conversion experience is in direct opposition to the Holy Spirit and also denies the work of the Spirit. Once again only by the direct works of grace of the Holy Spirit can eternal life be brought to the dead sinner. The purpose for preaching is not the preparation of the Saints for heaven, but rather for the edification of the body of Christ on how to live their lives here on earth. (John 3 : 6-8) 

 ON BAPTISM. 

Baptism of bodies into the Church of Christ is legitimate only when performed by immersion and upon a person who is capable of believing, Thus infant baptism is illegitimate and if an elect has been baptized as an infant, it is only proper that he be rebaptized as an adult. Baptism is an outward representation of an inward work, it is for the purpose of cultivating community within the body of Christ, it is however not necessary for salvation. Baptism can be performed either in the name of Jesus Christ  or in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, seeing as both of them are found in the scriptures. (Matthew 3:6-8)

          ON THE HOLY COMMUNION.

The practice of the Holy Eucharist should be open to all who wish to partake of the bread and the vine, all individuals should be free in doing so without examination by the preacher or the congregation.  This is for the honor of the universal atonement and for the sake of understanding that no man can understand how God works with a person on an individual basis. The scriptures tell us to work out our own salvation through fear and trembling. one salvation through one Christ cultivated in many different ways. All may come and share the Lord.

   ON THE BIBLE.

The Holy scripture is a most sacred and holy recording of the history of our faith written by flawed men prone to misinterpretation & expounding their own bias. There are many great nuggets of wisdom within the holy scriptures but it is not the infallible word of God. The only infallible word of God is the Christ. The Bible is an account of the word, not the word itself. As the Bible was constructed by people with certain worldviews, it is only appropriate that the deconstruction of it for the sake of love enduring beyond religion is performed by people who will interpret the scriptures through their own worldviews. A wise man eats the fish and spits out the bones. This is the purpose of the scripture. I think it is also proper that Christians esteem the New Testament of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ over the Old Testament of the children of Israel as our Holy Text. The Old Testaments has its place as a history book but the Logos is in the New Testament.

  ON THE ROLE OF FEMALE AND LGBT PASTORS.

Understanding that the scriptures were written in a specific time and with specific worldview ingrained in that time and place, I think it important that we recognize and acknowledge the legitimacy of female and LGBT pastors. God himself is neither man nor woman and he leads the church at its head. If God is without defined gender it is illogical to assume that only cis-men may serve as leaders in the body of the church. As we acknowledge the diversity of our individual gifts and the position God has given us in life, let us also acknowledge the hurt caused by using an anthropologic piece of literature for ill-religious control. 

ON WORSHIP.

The decision on whether or not instruments may be used within the church should be left up to the individual congregation. Though I myself prefer acapella-four part harmony, I do acknowledge the power behind praising our Father using instruments. Despite the genre of music, the song itself should be evaluated to have proper theology, if a song does not have proper theology it should not be used amongst the brothers. Examples of these songs are Blessed Assurance and I have Decided to Follow Jesus. Although these songs are beautiful and I am sure that the Lord has worked through them multiple times in the past, it is best not to deliberately spread bad theology that could be harmful to an individual. We should strive in all our being to understand that there is nothing we can do to gain salvation, it is important that we realize it is only through the grace of Jesus that any of us can be saved.

 ON THE USE OF FORCE.

A rusty sword is the way of the world; its pain can only increase. Is a wise proverb from a Canadian Mennonite professor. A Christian should never resort to using force, our Lord teaches us that the way to follow him is by turning the other cheek. This action entails more than allowing your aggressor to continue abusing you. This proverb teaches us that looking away from and forgetting and forgiving those who harm us is the way of the Christ. Since it is improper for Christians to use force it is thus improper for Christians to enlist in government, state or any civic operation being or resembling that of a militia. As the father has predestined his elect, he has also predestined the lives of those who will use the sword both in honor and dishonor, but this is not a role to be fulfilled by the brothers, ours is a life of Peacemaking. 

 ON HELL.

The teaching of hell as a literal place of eternal torment is a heresy. Hell is something here on our plane of existence. Hell is the needless suffering that people sit by and watch happen. Hell is where a person is in their room broken and alone. Hell is a feeling of irreconcilable brokenness, Hell is the feeling of destitution when good people don't step in and do what's right. Hell is the shame that good people should feel for not stepping in. A God who would give a universal atonement for all of salvation is not a god who would send his children that reject him to be devoured by flames. Jesus's death on the cross was a universal atonement and love covers a multitude of sins.  

   ON  HEAVEN. 

Heaven is a reachable possibility within Society, Heaven is the point at which we reach the epitome of loving one another, and loving each other in such a way to where there is no need nor want by any human on the planet. Heaven begins in your backyard. as we make the earth a better place to live we bring the kingdom come. Jesus told us that the Kingdom of God is within us, it logically follows that if it is within us we can share it. 

February 27, 2023