Category Archives: Spirituality

Essays discussing spirituality in Christianity.

He First Loved Us

When asked by the Pharisees which is the greatest commandment, in Matt 22:34-40, Jesus replied, “Loving God with all of your heart, soul, and strength”. This is the “Shema” from Deuteronomy 6:4-5, which states, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” Additionally, it is said, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18).

1 John 4:19  says we should love God because he first loved us. When did he first love us? John 3:16 says God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, the Messiah, and those who believe in him will inherit the blessing of eternal life. This eternal life is the fulfillment of the promise to restore humanity from our propensity to break God’s laws. This was made available because of God’s love for us.

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True Image of God

God stated in the 2nd commandment of the 10 commandments that His people were not to make any images to worship (Ex 20:4). The fact is, God had already created an image of Himself in Genesis 1:26-27 when He made mankind in His image and likeness. When we love others, we give God a true sacrifice (Heb 10:5-7, Psalms 50:14 & 23, Psalms 51:16-19), greater than any animal sacrifice offered by the Israelites in the Temple. 

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John the Baptist Reincarnated?

I recall seeing a social media post about an article that claimed the Bible promotes reincarnation. This is one of many attempts at Christian syncretism with Dharmic religions. Another example is from those who claim Jesus instructed people to “open their third eye chakra,” based on his statement about the eye being the entry point of light in the body in Matthew 6:22-23. This is clearly an allegory, with light representing righteousness, and Jesus warning people about the dangers of self-righteousness. Judaism did not teach reincarnation, so the Bible doesn’t endorse it. People who attempt to make it seem so are manipulating the text and redefining things that the Bible itself already defines.. 

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Reincarnation vs Judgement

Is Christian theology, or Abrahamic theology for that matter, compatible with reincarnation? Is Christian theology, or Abrahamic theology, for that matter, compatible with reincarnation? What is reincarnation? Is it the same as a resurrection? In a resurrection, a person returns to the earth from the dead in a regenerated version of their original body. Reincarnation involves a return to the land of the living, but in a different body with a distinct identity entirely.

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The Substance of Faith

Hebrews 11:1 says (KJV), “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” For it to be the “substance” of something hoped for, there must be something substantive (like a promise) that was given in the past, that we could have hope for the fulfillment of in the future. Since the future has not been seen yet, our evidence for the promise being fulfilled is based on our trust that God will do it because he promised to do it. Therefore, we must trust that God is faithful to his promises.

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