(Here the modified translation from Without Vowels wiki are used.)
Before Adam's and Eve's fall into sin, people were able to perform calculations with their brains just like powerful computers. It is clear from the following verses that things on earth were once vastly different:
“God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good…” (Gen. 1:31)
“And was perfect the heaven and the Earth and all their army.” (Gen. 2:1, modified translation) or even “And was perfect the heaven and the Earth and their army was calculating.”
“And both Adam and his wife were talented and were not ashamed each other.” (Gen. 2:25, modified translation)
“Out of the ground Yahweh God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” (Gen. 2:9)
In the garden of Eden there were trees of knowledge. You could eat a fruit and instantly learn quantum mechanics.
One of the trees was the tree of knowledge of good and bad. This fruit injected knowledge into the human brain of how the brain itself functions (what it says is good and what is bad). This knowledge caused the brain to trick itself, effectively causing a short-circuit. This is somehow similar to giving a program the password to a computer, thus allowing inviting it in to destroy the normal functionality of the computer (as well as to destroy itself). More specifically, the brain starts seeking to do what makes it feel better rather than engaging in its proper purpose.
“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat of it you will surely die.” (Gen. 2:17)
Certainly, to die here is not referring to a physical death, instead it is talking about crashing the person’s “operating system.”
“… she took of the fruit of it, and ate; and she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate. Both of their eyes were opened, and they knew that they were naked…” (Gen. 3:6-7) Before the fall, when Adam and Eve were together only one of them needed to keep their eyes opened because there was a wireless link between their brains and each was seeing through the eyes of the partner. After the fall, the wireless network crashed and they both needed to open their eyes.
“God said: We will create man in our image as our likeness. He will descent to the level of fishes of the Ocean, and birds of the sky, and beasts of the entire Earth, and all reptiles creeping on the Earth.” (Gen. 1:26, modified translation)
This means that people would lose their computing power.
“But sin, finding occasion through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of coveting. For apart from the law, sin is dead. I was alive apart from the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. The commandment, which was for life, this I found to be for death; for sin, finding occasion through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me. Therefore the law indeed is holy, and the commandment holy, and righteous, and good. Did then that which is good become death to me? May it never be! But sin, that it might be shown to be sin, by working death to me through that which is good; that through the commandment sin might become exceeding sinful.” (Rom 7:8-11)
“Did then that which is good become death to me? May it never be! But sin, that it might be shown to be sin, by working death to me through that which is good; that through the commandment sin might become exceeding sinful.” (Rom. 7:13)
This means that sin is a desire to do the opposite of what is good. It makes evil that which is good.
Sin is the following:
“I find then the law, that, to me, while I desire to do good, evil is present.” (Rom. 7:21)
“For he who has died has been freed from sin.” (Rom. 6:7)
Our brain does not have enough computing power to overcome sin (which is a denial of service attack as a computer hacker would say). But when we die, our personality is transferred to a much more powerful computer run by God, so that the sin in us is overcome.
“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Phil. 1:21)
“But I am in a dilemma between the two, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.” (Phil. 1:23)
As every of us has his own individual defects, God will write for every of us a new operating system specifically tailored for a particular person to overcome our defects:
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.” (2Cor. 5:17)
Every one of us is a new creation.
God made Christ to be sin, in order that He would enter into us and live in our sinful bodies:
“For him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf…” (2Cor. 5:21)
The processes (“works”) in the brain of a sinner die and uselessly occupy memory, so there remains no memory for current works of the brain:
“… not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, of faith toward God.” (Heb. 6:1) “… will the blood of Christ… cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:14)
This problem is solved by faith.
“Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing;’ and don’t know that you are the wretched one, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.” (Rev. 3:17)
Our brain’s speech center is a source of evil. It pushes evil ways of thinking into the entire brain.
“And the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire by Gehenna.” (Jam. 3:6)
“Do all things without murmurings…” (Phil. 2:14)
Murmuring is an action of tongue. Flee from it.
“For in many things we all stumble. If anyone doesn’t stumble in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also.” (Jam. 3:2)
“But nobody can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” (Jam. 3:8)
So learn to think without pronouncing your thoughts inside of yourselves. This brings a great wisdom. As a mathematician I can confirm this.
You can read more about sin and salvation in my book “End of Gospel”, especially the chapter “Real Superman” which talks about how for an entire month I was completely freed from sin and transformed into a computer.
“That whoever believes in him [Christ] should not perish, but have eternal life.” (Jn. 3:15, 16)
“One who believes in the Son has eternal life…” (Jn 3:36)
“Most assuredly, I tell you, he who believes in me has eternal life.” (Jn 6:47) Note that this refers to every believer not just some special “saints” or those people who do many good deeds.
It is a false teaching that after death everybody comes to God's court.
“He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn’t believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.” (Jn. 3:18)
“Most assuredly I tell you, he who hears my word, and believes him who sent me, has eternal life, and doesn’t come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” (Jn. 5:24)
Salvation is not by personal works, but nevertheless salvation is by deeds; the deeds of God.
“Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’” (Jn. 6:29) That which for people is faith, is a deed for God.
“We maintain therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.” (Rom. 3:28)
Martin Luther brought about the Reformation by bringing to the masses who did not have ready access to the Bible that they are justified by their faith, not by works. As Luther said, even if you were to commit 100 adulteries and 100 killings in a day, this cannot separate you from grace. If a person’s works were an integral part of their salvation then there would be no reason for Christ's death.
“For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void, and the promise is made of no effect.” (Rom. 4:14)
“And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.” (Rom. 11:6)
“Yet knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but through the faith of Jesus Christ, even we believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the law, because no flesh will be justified by the works of the law.” (Gal. 2:16)
“Wiping out the handwriting in ordinances which was against us; and he has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross.” (Col. 2:14)
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast.” (Eph. 2:8, 9)
Again, our works cannot bring about our salvation. If this is the case some may ask, does this mean that good deeds are not important? No, the Bible goes on to say that is the reason God saved us.
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.” (Eph. 2:10)
The purpose of our salvation is to do good deeds.
Faith without deeds is dead:
“What good is it, my brothers, if a man says he has faith, but has no works? Can faith save him?” (Jam. 2:14)
“Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself.” (Jam. 2:17)
See also James 2:20-26. Taken together these verses reveal that faith is demonstrated by works. If there are no good works, there is no true faith.
The word “Gospel” literally means “good news” or rather “correct news.” It also can be translated as “good or correct behavior of angels.”
This means, that Gospel is the written good order (for angels) to distribute news; so Christ comes first and sin last, thus focusing our attention on good news, rather than bad news. It is just like blocking out news for terrorists in order for terror not to materialize.
During the 1970s in America there was an epidemic of terrorist attacks and hijackings. After each event a group would call in and take credit for it. The news media would diligently report the news by proclaiming the group who took credit for the bombing. Then the media realized that by doing this they were encouraging these groups and others to do similar acts in order to get the publicity. They then collectively decided to no longer print or broadcast the names of the groups or persons who did the attack. Within a very short time the bombings stopped.
In the world above where angels live the news comes first and events are second. Events depend on news rather than the news relying on events. Thus we need good news.
“Then Jesus said to him, ‘Put your sword back into its place, for all those who take the sword will die by the sword.’” (Mt. 26:52)
“… If anyone is with the sword, he must be killed. Here is the endurance and the faith of the saints.” (Rev. 13:10)
Saints were created by God, who gave them faith with a specific mission to keep peace in the heavens. Saints are created to keep one particular principle: “If anyone is with the sword, he must be killed” that is to stop any war. This may seem like a simple principle, but putting it into practice can be extremely difficult and involves many different areas of service. The word “endurance” in Rev. 13:10 signifies that one needs endurance to be able to engage in many different facets of war and keep peace in all situations.
This also pertains to those who use the word of God as a sword. We should pray peacefully:
“Bless those who persecute you; bless, and don’t curse.” (Rom. 12:14)
“But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is the mother of us all.” (Gal. 4:26)
This verse refers to a city in heaven. The word Jerusalem translates as “a city of peace.” Jerusalem is a capital city in heaven, and its purpose is to keep peace in heaven. It is our mother because we were created after its task (to keep peace).
“But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” (Heb. 11:16)
“But you have come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable hosts of angels.” (Heb. 12:22)
The earthly Jerusalem was also created with the same purpose, to keep peace. But as we can see, it has not yet fulfilled this purpose.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called children of God.” (Mt. 5:9)
This means that “children of God” are the same as “peacemakers” (in heaven).
“Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways. The Lord be with you all.” (2Thes. 3:16)
Christ was made our righteousness:
“But of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who was made to us… righteousness…” (1Cor. 1:30)
What does this mean? It means that to be our righteousness, one needs to be as great as Christ (to present us as righteous despite our sins is so difficult that the power of Christ is required to do it). But this also means that Christ’s sacrifice is enough for God to consider us as righteous.
Christ is in us:
“To whom God was pleased to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27)
“… Or don’t you know as to your own selves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.” (2Cor. 13:5)
If Christ is in us, then His righteousness is in us, and this overweighs our sins. So if Christ is in us, we are righteous.
The judgment of God is not unjust. He judges us according to our real righteousness which is Christ in us, not just a “declared” righteousness.
So the Eastern Orthodox doctrine of salvation by having more than 50 percent good deeds is indeed true, as long as Christ is in us then his infinite righteousness overweighs our sins and we are one hundred percent righteous. If Christ is not in us, then we are not righteous at all but are complete sinners.
The following verses confirm predestination in salvation:
“All those who the Father gives me will come to me. Him who comes to me I will in no way throw out.” (Jn. 6:37)
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up in the last day.” (Jn. 6:44)
“He said, ‘For this cause have I said to you that no one can come to me, unless it is given to him by my Father.’” (Jn. 6:65)
“You didn’t choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain…” (Jn. 15:16)
“For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son… Whom he predestined, those he also called. Whom he called, those he also justified. Whom he justified, those he also glorified.” (Rom. 8:29-30)
“Having predestined us for adoption as children through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his desire, to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he freely bestowed favor on us in the Beloved.” (Eph. 1:5-6)
Can predestination be reconciled with a person having free choice? I think it can, and the verse which resolves it is Isaiah 65:24. “It shall happen that, before they call, I will answer…” God heard our call to Him before the world was created.
Thus evangelism is just an outer appearance of salvation, which depends solely on God's call.
“He answered them, ‘I tell you that if these were silent, the stones would cry out.’” (Luk. 19:40)
If we were to stop preaching, salvation would still continue to happen.
We should strive not to be saved
“He who loves his soul will lose it. He who hates his soul in this world will keep it to eternal life.” (Jn. 12:25, refined translation)
“He who finds his soul will lose it; and he who loses his soul for my sake will find it.” (Mt. 10:39, refined translation)
“For whoever desires to save his soul will lose it, and whoever will lose his soul for my sake will find it.” (Mt. 16:25, refined translation)
“Whoever seeks to save his soul loses it, but whoever loses his soul preserves it.” (Luke. 17:33, refined translation)
“He called the multitude to himself with his disciples, and said to them, “Whoever wants to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his soul will lose it; and whoever will lose his soul for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” (Mrk. 8:34-35, refined translation)
“For whoever desires to save his soul will lose it, but whoever will lose his soul for my sake, the same will save it.” (Luk. 9:24, refined translation)
“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luk. 14:11)
“… for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luk. 18:14)
“He must increase, but I must decrease.” (Jn. 3:30)
As I've described above, our salvation is by predestination and this cannot be changed. That being said, our purpose should not be just to get to heaven but to bring to heaven as little of our human character as possible. In other words, we need to hate our souls in this world. The purpose of salvation is to cleanse us from our sinful character traits as much as possible by teaching us to deny ourselves. Not the salvation itself, but this cleansing has value.
Salvation in the Old Testament
About Herod killing all the young boys in Israel:
“Then that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying, ‘A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; She wouldn’t be comforted, Because they are no more.’” (Mt. 2:17-18)
Based on this verse, it seems evident that the spirit of Rachel was alive at the time Herod killed the children. She was worried about things happening on the Earth. This means the Roman Catholic doctrine of saints in heaven participating in the life of people on the Earth is not a lie.
One more example of sins being forgiven before the death and resurrection of Jesus:
“Behold, they brought to him a man who was paralyzed, lying on a bed. Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, ‘Son, cheer up! Your sins are forgiven you.’” (Mt. 9:2)
“Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven you.’” (Mrk. 2:5; Luk. 5:20)
Abel speaks after his death:
“By faith, Abel… and through it he, being dead, still speaks.” (Heb. 11:4)
“The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they entered into the holy city and appeared to many.” (Mt. 27:52-53)
There were saints who died before the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Luke 16:19-25 plainly shows that Lazarus and Abraham were both in paradise before the death and resurrection of Jesus. And Bible does not say that it was a proverb.
“And all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.” (1Cor. 10:3-4)
They were partakers of Christ even though He hadn't yet come to earth in bodily form. Yet they were able to be saved by Christ just like those who lived afterward.
The spirits of saved people will be placed into stars.
“Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Mt. 13:43)
“Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine as the brightness of the expanse; and those who turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.” (Dan. 12:2, 3)
I teach that we should not attempt to artificially change our habits to follows the Bible’s commandments. Instead, our inner nature should be changed and this should happen by itself so that we follow commandments naturally without specifically setting our mind to follow a particular commandment. If we focus too much on fulfilling some particular commandment, it may lead us to violate other commandments. If we continue to stuff things into a filled bag, eventually something will need to come out to free up more space.
“You blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel!” (Mt. 23:24)
The solution is not to put too many things into a small bag, but instead make the bag bigger. Follow love and faith, not a particular commandment.
While faith is the ultimate goal, God “remembered they were but flesh” (Psalm 78:39). In other words, God understands that we are subject to human failings. Because of this he established his commandments not as means of salvation, but as guideposts to live by until our level of maturity is able to directly apply the principles of faith and love.
“Having abolished in the flesh the hostility, the law of commandments contained in ordinances…” (Eph. 2:15)
“One who has my commandments, and keeps them, that person is one who loves me…” (Jn. 14:21)
Keeping Christ's commandments is a criterion of our love to Him.
“This is how we know that we know him: if we keep his commandments. One who says, ‘I know him,’ and doesn’t keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth isn’t in him.” (1Jn. 2:3-4)
“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep his commandments.” (1Jn. 5:2)
“This is love, that we should walk according to his commandments…” (2Jn. 1:6)
Whether we fulfill any particular commandment without hypocrisy is whether or not our mind and heart are set right. It isn't a purpose to strive, but a criterion of the true purpose. When we become what we should be, the commandments are fulfilled “automatically.”
“Whoever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments, and teach others to do so, shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven; but whoever shall do and teach them shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.” (Mt. 5:19)
Whether we fulfill the commandments or not is the criterion of how big or small we are in the Kingdom of Heaven.
“But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” (Gal. 5:18)
“But I tell you, don’t resist him who is evil; but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.” (Mt. 5:39)
“But I tell you who hear: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you. To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer also the other; and from him who takes away your cloak, don’t withhold your coat also.” (Luk. 6:27-29)
This means that we should not resist a person who disturbs us to do good works for the world. Our purpose is not to do good for the world.
“Don’t love the world, neither the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love isn’t in him.” (1Jn. 2:15)
If somebody damages your mouth so that you cannot speak and proclaim the Gospel because of your broken mouth, rather than resist him, in humility you should accept that this time God has not given you the task to preach with your mouth.
“But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you, that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.” (Mt. 5:44-45)
Being the children of your Father in heaven means not doing good in this world, because otherwise not resisting your enemies (people who disturb you to do good) would be contrary to your purpose.
Do you know that Bible allows you to steal if you are hungry?
“But he said to them, ‘Haven’t you read what David did, when he was hungry, and those who were with him; how he entered into the house of God, and ate the show bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for those who were with him, but only for the priests?’” (Mt. 12:3-4)
“He said to them, ‘Did you never read what David did, when he had need, and was hungry—he, and they who were with him? How he entered into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the show bread, which it is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and gave also to those who were with him?’” (Mrk 2:25-26)
“Jesus, answering them, said, ‘Haven’t you read what David did when he was hungry, he, and those who were with him; how he entered into the house of God, and took and ate the show bread, and gave also to those who were with him, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests alone?’” (Luk. 6:3-4)
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (Jam. 1:2-4) So we should go through temptations.
At first, this would seem to contradict The Lord's Prayer.
“Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. …” (Mt. 6:13)
“… Bring us not into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.” (Luke 11:4)
“… Pray that you don’t enter into temptation.” (Luk. 22:40)
“And said to them, ‘Why do you sleep? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.’” (Luk. 22:46)
I think this mean not that we will not experience temptations, but rather that we should not fall into a temptation when we experience it. Another possible interpretation is that the purpose of temptations is to overcome what is here called “the evil one” (or evil in general). If there is another way to deliver us from the evil one, then there is no reason to go through temptations. So this prayer is for us to go through a better way than the way of temptations.
“Watch and pray, that you don’t enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh i