The will,
and the free will.

WILL

Perhaps see earlier section: SPIRIT & SOUL for background.


In an unbeliever, a non-Christian:
            genes
            culture
            education
            upbringing
            environment
            circumstances
            influences from people
            temptations from demons
            encouragements from God
            all feed into your soul.

            So that your soul acts.
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
            But it’s only your soul that acts.
            Your heart/
spirit does not act.

 

soul  heart/spirit  mind  emotions  output line is thick because of the emotions

This is the will in action:

            It’s what advertisers, businessmen, politicians, etc,
            predict & manipulate.

           
The will forms slowly, with experience.

            Even neurologically complex animals each have a will.
,         ,         Perhaps see earlier sections:
,         ,         ANIMALS ,,,
,         ,         and:
,         ,         REACTING AND RESPONDING. ,,,

            Even an artificial intelligence has a will.
            (It seems like a free will.  But, actually, it’s a will
            because it’s subject to the programmer’s free will.)
,         ,         Perhaps see seventh to ninth cell (starting To have to ‘lobotomise’)
,         ,         of earlier section: SELF-TEACHING COMPUTERS
,         ,         and the link within them.
,         ,         (This link does not open a new tab.)

..

FREE WILL

If you’re bothered about the word ‘aliens’ in the next paragraph
then see second cell (starting
I reckon that God deliberately designed)
of earlier section:
WE ARE BETTER EQUIPPED NOW TO UNDERSTAND THE TRUTH.


Beings  (i.e. God, angels, demons, humans, aliens)
each have:
            a will
            and
            a free will.

In an unbeliever, a non-Christian:

world  

and:

God’s absence  

activates

 

dampens

   will

 

   free will.

In a renewed-mind Christian:

world  

and:

God’s presence  

 

 

but:

free will  

activates

activates



overrides

   will

 

   free will,

 

 

 

   will.

 

Hence:
John c8 v36:
If the Son therefore shall make you free,
ye shall be free indeed.
   KJV

.

Inside a renewed-mind Christian:

            You (i.e. your heart/
spirit) 
            and:
            God’s Spirit inside you:
                       are both right,
                       both agree on everything,
                        both say what they both want to say,
                        both do what they both want to do,
                        both fully express themselves – through your soul.

soul  heart/spirit  mind  emotions  output line is thick because of the emotions

.

The will forms slowly, with experience.

But free will comes into existence
as soon as we decide
whether to eventually
become
completely constructive or completely destructive:

            I write as soon as we make that decision
            because making that decision
            then gives a bias
            to every other moral decision.

Conversely, if that big decision
could be affected by
anything we know:

            then God would have made something
            that we then all know about

            or would have told us all something
            that we then all know,

all in order to cause all of us
to decide to eventually become
completely constructive.

But he didn’t:

            so the big decision cannot be affected by
            anything we know

            so we must make the big decision
            before we know anything

            so the big decision must be (part of)
            the very first moral decision we make.

.

 

YOU INHERIT THE QUALITIES
BUT NOT THE PREVIOUS CHANGES

The changes a person makes in themselves
show in their own life
but not in subsequent generations.

            The qualities you get:
                       are genetic,
                       you pass them on.

            The changes you make to them:
                       are not genetic,
                       you do not pass them on.

            Genetic qualities:
     
                  Usually don’t have much
                       rightness or wrongness about them.
     
                 You pass them on to the next generation.

     
      Virtues or vices:
     
                  Are the changes we make to those genetic qualities.
     
                  You do not pass them on to the next generation.

Hence someone may inherit:

            Their father’s hastiness.  But not his spontaneous generosity.

            Their father’s hastiness.  But not his sudden anger.

            Their mother’s quietness.  But not her callous plotting.

            Their mother’s quietness.  But not her serving attitude.

Only qualities like hastiness & quietness get inherited.
Not the virtues or vices that we make of them.

 

.

 

 

CHANGES A BELIEVER
MAKES IN THEMSELVES

 

Jesus died for everyone.

            But believing that he died for everyone
            makes you want to do right, and not wrong,
            out of gratitude:
,         ,         ,         ,         As compared to: obedience, duty, social acceptance, guilt, law, force, etc. 
,         ,         ,         ,         Perhaps see earlier section: WHY CHRISTIANS AVOID SINNING:
,         ,         ,         ,         and
,         ,         ,         ,         the section after it: HOW CHRISTIANS AVOID SINNING.

            and out of a renewed mind:
,         ,         ,         ,         Perhaps see earlier section: WHAT IS A RENEWED MIND?
,         ,         ,         ,         and
,         ,         ,         ,         immediately after it: DOING MIRACLES
,         ,         ,         ,         and:  
,         ,         ,         ,         immediately after that:  WHAT IS A RENEWED MIND: SOME DETAILS
,         ,         ,         ,         and
,         ,         ,         ,         earlier section: YOU MUST RENEW YOUR MIND
,         ,         ,         ,         and
,         ,         ,         ,         earlier section: HOW TO RENEW YOUR MIND
,         ,         ,         ,         and
,         ,         ,         ,         immediately after it: HOW TO RENEW YOUR MIND: SOME DETAILS
, ,       ,         ,         ,         and
,         ,         ,         ,         earlier section: PRAYING & FASTING.


            Believing that Jesus died for everyone:
                       also makes your primary relationship – with God
                       and your secondary relationships – with people.


            Believing that Jesus died for everyone:
                       also makes your sin consciousness disappear,
                       though not your wrong consciousness.
,         ,         ,         ,         See earlier section:
,         ,         ,         ,         THE CONVERSE DEFINITION OF A CHRISTIAN
,         ,         ,         ,         See section in webpage after this one:
,         ,         ,         ,         SIN CONSCIOUSNESS. , , ,


Hence you become a new creature.  See:
2 Cor c5 v17   Gal c6 v15.,,

.

 

 

Perhaps see:
YouTube: – The best description of the Gospel – Dan Mohler, , , ,
and:
YouTube: – What believing the gospel really means - Dan Mohler, , , , , ,

Perhaps see earlier section: TECHNICALLY SPEAKING: SINS NO LONGER EXIST  
to understand the difference between: Wommack & Mohler, and Hemans.

 

Perhaps see:
One of Andrew Wommack’s TV programmes on spirit, soul & body.
(link repeated from earlier).

.

FEAR & AGAPE LOVE

For various reasons, God has had to do many unloving things.
Perhaps see earlier webpage:
The good & bad that God does.,,,


But, actually, his heart towards us is one of love.
Perhaps see earlier section:
IN JESUS, THE FATHER REVEALS HIS HEART TO US. ,,,


And it’s an unconditional, self-sacrificial, love
called agape love.

If you are a believer, who has renewed their mind:
           
Then you love others with agape love.
            Also, G
od’s Spirit, who is inside you,  Rom c8 v9, ,,,
            loves you, and others through you, with agape love.

Your agape love is not:
            Mere human love.
            A mere emotion amongst the other emotions.
            The will in action.

Your agape love is:
            Your
heart/spirit having renewed your mind
           
with agape love that’s now throughout your mind.
            Free will in action.

,         ,         Perhaps see earlier section:
,         ,         DO THE EMOTIONS NEED RENEWING? , , , ,

.

 

Fear may stop your mere natural, human, love.
But fear does not stop your agape love.

On the contrary: your agape love stops fear:

            1 John c4 v18
:
            There is no fear in love;
            but perfect love casteth out fear:
            because fear hath torment.
            He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
   KJV

,,        ,,        In the above Bible verse
,,        ,,        all three instances of the word love,
,,        ,,        are, in the original Greek, agape.

,,        ,,        Perhaps see:
,,        ,,        Interlinear Bible, showing the original Greek: 1 John c4 v18, ,,,,,

,,        ,,        and:
,,        ,,        Encyclopaedia Britannica’s definition of the word 'agape'. ,,,,,

.

Technically speaking:

      It’s not:
           
fear – stops – miracles.


      It’s:
            belief
causesmiracles
      &:
            belief
stops – fear,


      in detail:
            belief
causeslove & power – causes – miracles
      &:
            belief – causes
love & powerwhich stops – fear.

This assumes the believer has renewed their mind.

 

.

 

 

TO OUR HEARTS/SPIRITS – JESUS GAVE FREEDOM.
TO OUR SOULS – JESUS GAVE REST.

 

By getting God’s Spirit into us
Jesus gave
freedom, from the world, to our hearts/spirits.

            O
ur hearts/spirits renew our minds.
            Our minds then control our souls.

            Hence our hearts
/spirits take away, from the world,
            its control of our souls.

            Matt c6 v33   (Luke c12 v31):
            But seek ye first the kingdom of God,
            and his righteousness;
            and all these things
            shall be added unto you.   KJV

            John c8 v36:    (
John c8 v32):
     
      If the Son therefore shall make you free,
            ye shall be free indeed.   KJV

           
John c14 v27:
            Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you:
            not as the world giveth, give I unto you.
            Let
not your heart be troubled,
     
      neither let it be afraid.   KJV

     
      Gal c6 v14:
           
[Paul wrote] The world means nothing to me.   my abbn

 

By getting God’s Spirit into us
Jesus gave
rest, from the world, to our souls.

            O
ur hearts/spirits renew our minds.
            Our minds then control our souls.

            Hence our hearts
/spirits take away, from the world,
            its control of our souls.
 
            Matt c11 v28-30:
            Come unto me, all
ye that labour and are heavy laden,
            and I will give you rest.
            Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me;
            for I am meek and lowly in heart:
            and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
            For my yoke
is easy,
            and my burden is light.
   KJV
,         ,         A yoke is the collar on a beast of burden (horse, ox)
,         ,         which is connected to the burden (cart, plough).


           
Heb c4 v9-11:
            Let us rest from our earthly effort (which is hard)
            and do God’s work (which is easy).
   my abbreviation

,         ,         Perhaps see earlier section:
,         ,         SOME OLD COVENANT LAWS SERVE AS SIGNS, SHADOWS,
,         ,         OF THE NEW COVENANT
. , , ,

 

.

 

 

GOD’S FREE WILL & OUR FREE WILL

 

GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY

 

I wrote this section particularly for the readers of
the New International Version Bible.
See earlier section: WHICH VERSION OF THE BIBLE TO USE.


Before this Church Age:
            God was much like some of the kings & queens of old.
            Benevolent to his own nation,
Israel,
            but decisively brutal to those that threatened it
            since only decisively brutal seemed to work.
            Exercising justice within his own nation,
            but it was often a harsh justice
            since only a harsh justice seemed to work.

But during this Church Age:
            God is entirely loving,
            and a king to everyone, not only to the Jews.

,         ,         Perhaps see:
,         ,         YouTube: – Bill Johnson || DECEMBER 11, 2017 -
,         ,         What Jesus Accomplished Now || Teaching Truth
.
,         ,         From:   37m 15s   to:   47m 30s   is particularly pithy.

,         ,         Perhaps also see earlier section:
,         ,         GOD DOES NOT CHANGE
                   BUT HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH US CHANGES

,         ,         and earlier webpage:
,         ,         The Church Age
,         ,         and earlier section:
,         ,         IN JESUS, THE FATHER REVEALS HIS HEART TO US, , .

 

            But is God your loving king?
            Do you subject yourself to him?
            Can he do anything through you?

            During this Church Age:

                       God no longer acts by himself
                       or with people.
,         ,         ,         ,         As he did in the Old Testament and in the four gospels.

                       Go
d acts through people,
                        principally through believers.

                        Jesus is the head,
                       believers are the body:


                
                  Col c2 v9-10:
                                   For in him dwelleth
                                   all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
                                   And ye are complete in him,
                                   which is the head
                                   of all principality and power
:   KJV

                                   Eph c1 v19-23    &    1 Cor c12 – c14    combined:
                                   Jesus is now the head.
                                   And you, the church, are now the body.
                                   Hence you, like Jesus,
                                              have been given the Spirit
                                   so that you too can have the gifts of the Spirit
                                   including doing miracles
.   my abbn


,         ,         ,         ,         ,         ,         Perhaps see earlier section:
,         ,         ,         ,         ,         ,         CONTINUING THE SON’S WORK.,,,,,

 

.

 

God’s sovereignty is:
            God being more powerful than anyone else.

But, unlike us:
            God doesn’t necessarily use that power.

            God can do anything.
            But he doesn’t necessarily do anything.

            We want to do more things than we can do.
            Our tightest limit is what we can do.

            God can do more things than he wants to do.
            His tightest limit is what he wants to do.

            (Hence I often use the word want, for God,
            as one would use the word can, for a human.)

 

God’s sovereignty is also:
           
o    God being more intelligent than anyone else.
           
o    God knowing more than anyone else,
                 having the greatest database (even past & future).

Hence each being has a free will.
Ye
t God can, and often does,
get us to do his free will.

            For example:

                       God designed the universe
                       so that Satan would encourage people
                       to crucify Jesus
                       (if you hate something: – you attack it, destroy it).
,         ,         ,         ,         Perhaps see earlier section:
,         ,         ,         ,         IN WHAT WAYS DID GOD MAKE THE UNIVERSE SECOND CLASS?   
,         ,         ,         ,         and perhaps see earlier section:
,         ,         ,         ,         WHY WAS JESUS EXECUTED?


                      
Only after Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection
                       did Satan realise that God’s kingdom, ways, plan,
                       was counterintuitive, opposite to the world, etc,
                       and that he’d actually helped God.

            So, God had got Satan to do
            what he, God, wanted
            even though Satan had retained his own free will
            throughout.


,         ,         See item 2)
,         ,         of earlier section:
,         ,         HOW DO DEMONS SEE THE FUTURE? , , , , .

 

.

 

Hence, likewise, in your life,
God can, and often does,
turn the victories of:
            nature  (perhaps see earlier webpage: The design of everything)

            and the world, the flesh, & the devil (demons),
into the victories of:
            God & believers

            Rom c8 v28:
           
And we know that all things work together for good
            to them that love God,
            to them who are the called according to
his purpose.   KJV

            For God:
                  o    Sees the future better than demons do.
,         ,         ,         ,         Perhaps see earlier webpage: Time travel occurs in Heaven.

                  o    Is much more able than demons.
,         ,         ,         ,         Perhaps see earlier section: GOD: THE CONSIDERATE DELEGATOR.


            Indeed, God weaves his activities into demons’ activities:
                       uses demon’s activities, and our failures,
                       in conjunction with his own activities.

            Or, as Wommack says:
           
“God is like a master chess player.”
,         ,         See earlier section: PATHS & DETOURS. ,,,,,

 

            So, God never gave you bad things.
,         ,         See earlier section:
,         ,         SO, WHERE DO TODAY’S BAD THINGS COME FROM?. ,,,,,
,         ,         and its subsections.

 

            Indeed, God wants to correct bad things,
            or may want to use those bad things, to good ends.
,         ,         See earlier section:
,         ,         GOD IS ALWAYS CONSTRUCTIVE IN THE LONG RUN. ,,,,,

 

.

 

 

All this makes sense
only if you see
that God does not run this place
:

            God gave this place to us.

            But we then gave it to Satan.
   
,         ,         ,         ,         Perhaps see earlier section:
,         ,         ,         ,         THE IMPORTANCE OF THE GARDEN OF EDEN,,,,,
,         ,         ,         ,         and third cell 
,         ,         ,         ,         of earlier section:
,         ,         ,         ,         THE KINGDOM OF THE WORLD & THE KINGDOM OF DEMONS. ,,,,,


            Hence this is enemy territory.
,         ,         ,         ,         Perhaps see whole of earlier section:
,         ,         ,         ,         THE KINGDOM OF THE WORLD & THE KINGDOM OF DEMONS. ,,,,,


                       John c18 v36    (John c8 v23):
                       Jesus answered,
           
            My kingdom is not of this world ctd   KJV


                      
The Earth is God’s,
                       the planet is God’s,
                       nature is God’s.

                       But the world is not God’s.
                       The world is Satan’s.

                       The world is enemy territory
                       and God has to invade it
                       to be in it.

            Hence God is on a rescue mission.
,         ,         ,         ,         Perhaps see earlier section:
,         ,         ,         ,         WE ARE BETTER EQUIPPED NOW TO UNDERSTAND THE TRUTH.


            Hence God, Father Spirit & Son,
            is automatically undercover.
,         ,         ,         ,         See earlier section:
,         ,         ,         ,         WHAT’S WRONG WITH A VISIBLE SOLUTION?

 

            See: C.S. Lewis: Enemy-occupied territory. ,,,

All this becomes obvious
when you consider the resistance Jesus met.

 

.

 

God the Father first designed matter,
then created matter,
then made us out of matter.
Perhaps see first half
of earlier webpage:
Making the universe.


So, God is the overall planner.

 

Yet God is not controlling everyone:

For example, God chooses us
but only like Jesus chose his twelve disciples:

            Independently of Jesus choosing his twelve disciples,
            eleven of them chose Jesus, one chose Satan.

            God foresaw that Judas would choose Satan. 
Zech c11 v12-13
            But God did not make Judas choose Satan.


,         ,         Perhaps see earlier webpage: We choose where we go., , , , , ,

 

.

 

To conclude: God is not sovereign,
not the way most people today
think of the word sovereign:
 
            Strictly speaking, sovereign means
            that you have supreme power
            even though you’ve decided
            not to currently use it.
            God is like that, yes.
            Well, he’s using it minimally.

            But most people think of sovereign as meaning that
            the king, or God, is currently using
            his supreme power,
            as he wishes,
            probably to the max.
            And that – God is not like.

,         ,         See the four cells (starting My 1988 NIV concordance) 
               of earlier section:
WHICH VERSION OF THE BIBLE TO USE.

 

.

 

 

You may argue that,
in:
           
Rom c9 v1-25:
            God simply chooses who to love & who to hate,
            God made Pharaoh evil,
            God controls us like a potter controls the clay
.   my abbn
Paul is saying that:
            God is sovereign.
            Or, more to the point, God is like a dictator
            who controls everyone.

But I say that Paul wrote
Rom c9 v1-25 
because he could not see hearts/
spirits.

,         ,         See earlier sections:
,         ,         THE THIRD REASON PAUL PREACHED ONLY FORGIVENESS
                   WAS THAT HE DID NOT SEE HEARTS/SPIRITS
 
,         ,         and:
,         ,         SEEING HEARTS/SPIRITS 
,         ,         and:
,         ,         SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTIVE & SOCIALLY DIVISIVE.


            This meant that:
                       Thinking of God as completely controlling
                       was the only way Paul could understand
                       people’s behaviour.

            This was exacerbated by him:
                       Having killed Christians.
                       Then changing 180 degrees
                       due to God’s intervention.


,         ,         More about seeing hearts/spirits in the section after next.

.

GOD’S KIND OF LOVE (AGAPE LOVE)
AND
MERE HUMAN, NATURAL, LOVE

For various reasons, God has had to do many unloving things.
Perhaps see earlier webpage:
The good & bad that God does.,,,


But, actually, his heart towards us is one of love.
Perhaps see earlier section:
IN JESUS, THE FATHER REVEALS HIS HEART TO US. ,,,


And it’s an unconditional, self-sacrificial, love
called agape love.

If you are a believer, who has renewed their mind:
           
Then you love others with agape love.
            Also, G
od’s Spirit, who is inside you,  Rom c8 v9, ,,,
            loves you, and others through you, with agape love.

Your agape love is not:
            Mere human love.
            A mere emotion amongst the other emotions.
            The will in action.

Your agape love is:
            Your
heart/spirit having renewed your mind
           
with agape love that’s now throughout your mind.
            Free will in action.

,         ,         Perhaps see earlier section:
,         ,         DO THE EMOTIONS NEED RENEWING? , , , ,

.

 

You can have agape love
even if you have no normal empathy & love.

            Psychopaths, for example,
            have no normal empathy & love in their emotions.
,         ,         See   30m 55s   to   46m 30s
,         ,         of: YouTube: – Ch4, PSYCHOPATH NIGHT! [Channel 4], , , , , , , ,


            But, if they become believers, and renew their minds,
            they become agape loving throughout.

            Psychopathy & sociopathy are in the mind
            which is in the soul, not in the heart/
spirit,
            are flesh, not spirit,
            temporary, not eternal,
            of this life, of no eternal significance.

            So, don’t worry if you are a psychopath or a sociopath.

            Peter, before & after becoming a believer,
            was a psychopath. 
(Proof in next section.)


            And Saul (later named Paul),
            before & after becoming a believer,
            was, I suspect, a high-functioning sociopath.
,,        ,         See:   Acts c9 v1-2     2 Cor c9     Philemon note v18-19
,         ,         (N.B. If Paul had been a psychopath
,         ,         he wouldn’t have written  1 Cor c13 NIV.) 


            Hence Peter, & perhaps Paul to a degree,
            before & after becoming believers,
            had no normal empathy & love.

           
Psychopaths don’t love other people.
            They try to own other people, by one means or another,
            so as to control other people
            rather than relate to them the way most people do.
 
            So, when Peter became a believer
            and eventually renewed his mind,
            he made
his whole mind constructive
            regardless of its psychopathic configuration.
            Indeed, with no other persons in his mind, not even God,
            only things, & yourself, (as is the way with psychopaths),
            Peter had far fewer distractions
            and therefore much more focus
            than other Christians would have.


            Agape love,
            throughout the mind, & therefore also the emotions,
            more than makes up for
            the absence of normal love & empathy
            in mind & therefore also emotions.
,         ,         See earlier section: MIND AND EMOTIONS. ,,,,

            Peter & Paul had controlling personalities
            before & after becoming believers.

            But, when they became believers and renewed their minds,
            Jesus’ lordship transformed their controlling
            into good, strong, Christian leadership.

.

Empathy, which is in the mind, which is in the soul:
            is helpful for seeing other people’s souls
            but vital for seeing other people’s hearts/
spirits.

            Empathy = continuously putting yourself
            in other people’s places.
            Continuously asking yourself:
                       “Why do they think/feel/act the way they do?”
                        “Would I think/feel/act that way?”
                       “If not, why not?”
            though non-verbal, high-speed.


            Your focus continuously going to & fro:
                       to them, to you, to them, to you,
                       building pictures of their interiors,
                       seeing whether they’re inside out or not:
                       something you either see straight away or not at all.


So, ironically:
            t
hough empathy is in the soul,
            it enables a few people to see the heart/
spirit.

            It’s a natural ability.
            Not the miraculous one,
            not the discerning of spirits.
 1 Cor c12 v4-10,,,

,         ,         Perhaps see earlier section:
,         ,         CAN WE SEE THE HEART/SPIRIT?  

,         ,         If you think you can see people’s heart’s/spirits
,         ,         then you must see earlier section:
,         ,         FOUR REASONS WHY WE SHOULDN’T TRY TO JUDGE
,         ,         OTHER PEOPLE’S HEARTS/SPIRITS
. , , , ,

.

 

Most people, by far, cannot see other people’s hearts/spirits.
Peter & Paul even more so.

Hence Peter & Paul (& many others I’m sure)
assumed, & felt,
that they could not see their own hearts/
spirits either.

            Hence when they looked inside themselves,
            they thought that:
                       they were looking inwards
                       at their hearts/
spirits,
            when it was actually:
                       their hearts/
spirits looking outwards
                       at their souls.

,         ,         ,         ,         See (diagrams of)
,         ,         ,         ,         first section of earlier webpage: Looking inside yourself 
,         ,         ,         ,         and of
,         ,         ,         ,         earlier webpage: How God Forgave us all.


            Hence they concluded, wrongly, that
            just as:
                       you judging yourself
                       ends with
                       you hating your heart/
spirit 
            so also:
                       God Judging you
                       must end with
                       God hating your heart/
spirit. 

Blue text copied from earlier section:
THE THIRD REASON PAUL PREACHED ONLY FORGIVENESS
WAS THAT HE DID NOT SEE HEARTS/
SPIRITS
, , , ,

Hence psychopathic Peter,
on first seeing God’s kindness,
suddenly saw his own sin
and concluded that God/Jesus had it in for him:

           
Luke c5 v1-8:
            A miraculously huge catch of fish
            prompted Simon
[i.e. Peter]
            to say to Jesus:
            “Get away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man.”
,         ,         [Whereas other sinners immediately warmed to Jesus’ love for them.]   my abbn

Consequently, Jesus later prayed against this weakness in Peter:
            Peter’s loveless, self-conscious,
            lack-of-God-conscious,
            state of mind.

           
Luke c22 v31-32:
            And the Lord said,
                 Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired
                
to have you [disciples],
                 that he may sift
you [disciples]
                 as wheat
[i.e. relentlessly mention your faults to you] :
                 But I have prayed for thee
[Peter],
                 that thy faith fail not:
                 and when thou
[Peter] art converted,
                 strengthen thy brethren
.   KJV

.

MORE ABOUT PETER, PAUL, & PSYCHOPATHY ETC

I reckon that psychopaths (&sociopaths)
don’t possess empathy-facilitating mental models
of other people & of God.
I reckon they merely have mental lists
of other people & of God.

            So it’s not that they don’t love other people
            (they don’t hate them either).

            It’s simply that, for them, others don’t exist.
            Or rather, they don’t exist as people.

                       Everyone else are things: potential possessions,
                       working toys, that they understand the workings of
                       but don’t personally relate to:

                       Hence psychopaths & sociopaths
                       like people who have a lot of buttons to press.

                       However, God is a person too, with buttons.

            So, as psychopathic (& sociopathic) Christians:
                
o    don’t believe that people, as such, exist,
                
o    believe in God, but as a mechanism not as a person,
            then their faith is fully focussed.
,,        ,,        Psychopaths see that God has a ‘you’ve done no wrong’ button.
,,        ,,        And they also see that he has a miraculous power button marked ‘faith’.

            See:  Acts c5 v12-16  &  Acts c19 v11-12. ,,,

.

Psychopathic (& sociopathic) believers,
if spiritually immature,
try to be in control
of even the way God relates to them:

            They insist, more than most:
                 that they are not unconditionally loved,
                 that they must do something,
                 that Forgiveness is not entirely free.

            But, when they finally believe,
            in their hearts/
spirits and minds,
            and so have the real God (i.e. God’s Spirit) in them,
            then their God complex can’t help but vanish.

            I show this change, in Peter & in Paul,
            in the next two cells.

Peter, before Pentecost: Dave here: edit point

           
o    Was the only disciple to walk on water.     Matt c14 v29  

           
o    Angrily refused Jesus to, humanly speaking, fail.
                
Matt c16 v22     Mark c8 v32   

           
o    Argued against Jesus washing his feet.     John c13 v1-17 

            o    Peter, though standing next to Jesus
                 and having heard all of Jesus’ preaching
                 on loving your enemies,
                 tried to cut someone’s head off.
                 Though Peter was a fisherman, he had a sword,
                 and cut off the ear of one of those sent to arrest Jesus.

                       He was probably aiming for the head or neck
                       since it’s hard to cut off an ear.
                       And the sword was sharp
                       so Jesus’ command to stop was timely.
                      
John c18 v10-11 
                       and  
Luke c22 v35-38  &  v47-51  combined.

            o    Peter led the other disciples
                 in confessing allegiance to
Jesus.  
                
Matt c26 v31-35     Mark c14 v27-31.  
                
Luke c22 v31-34     John c13 v36-38.  
           
o    But later, after following Jesus to his accusers,
                 came out with the lie
                 that he didn’t even know Jesus,
                 in order to save his own skin. 
                
Matt c26 v69-75     Mark c14 v54-72.    
                
Luke c22 v54-62     John c18 v15-27.

Peter, after Pentecost:

           
o    Was the first to miraculously heal & preach.   Acts c2 

            o    Continued in that fashion.

            Mind you, Peter’s change and growth were not instant:

                
o    Acts c5 v1-11:
                      
Peter, by the power of God’s Spirit,
                       punished Ananias & Sapphira, for lying to God,
                       by making them drop down dead.  my abbreviation
,

                 o    Peter was readily sucked into
                       legalism, ‘man pleasing’,
                       which led to a rebuke from Paul  
Gal c2 v11-16 
                       which, it seems, Peter accepted  
2 Pet c3 v15-16, , , , , ,

Paul, before his Damascus road experience:

           
o    Was a destroyer of the church.  1 Cor c15 v9   Acts c22 v4 

           
o    Oversaw Stephen’s killing
                 with satisfaction. 
Acts c7 v54 – c8 v1   Acts c22 v19-20 

,         ,         o,      Also click on Bible references in fifth cell
,         ,         ,         (starting Peter, before & after becoming a believer,)
,         ,         ,         of previous section:
,         ,         ,         GOD’S KIND OF LOVE – AGAPE LOVE, AND MERE NATURAL HUMAN LOVE.
,         ,         ,         (This link does not open a new tab.)


Paul,
after his Damascus road experience:

            o    Was (one of) the leading builder(s) of the church.

            o    Readily suffered persecution
                 (as promised by God 
Acts c9 v16)
                 perhaps more than any other believer. 
2 Cor c11 v16-33 

 

,         ,         ,         Perhaps read about Christian ‘violence’
,         ,         ,         in: Wommack’s online commentary on Matt c11 v12, , , , , ,

.

To conclude, the apostle Peter,
being psychopathic,
when he was
a new Christian:
            was not the kind of person
            that
most Christians today
            would invite round for tea.

            Ask him to heal your sick or raise your dead.
           
Acts c3 v1-8     Acts c9 v32-43 
            But, other than that, steer him away from your home.


Peter had already been changed by God’s Spirit 
Acts c2 – c 3 
when, by the power of God’s Spirit,
he killed Ananias & Sapphira. 
N.B. This is not the New Testament way.
See first two cells
of earlier section:
THE CHURCH AGE.,,,,


Either that, or he approved of God doing it. 
Acts c5 v1-10,,,,,

But, happily, Peter eventually mellowed & quietened down.
Perhaps see the cell, starting For example: with the perspective,
of earlier section:
THE EFFECT OF THE BIBLE WRITERS ON THEIR OWN WRITING. 
Perhaps also see Peter’s epistles:  1 Pet c1 – c5   and   2 Pet c1 – c3. ,,,


            So, Peter must have gradually changed,
            must have managed his psychopathy.

            Indeed, he eventually loved people
            with an agape love.
            (His epistles are brilliant.)

.

 

 


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