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Jimmy Carter

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Was Jesus a failure?

The following was posted last night, by World Net Daily’s editor Joseph Farah, that I saw today:

Definition of irony? Jimmy Carter thinks Jesus failed

August 4, 2017

I was reading with interest a Religion News Service story about 92-year-old Jimmy Carter teaching a Bible study at Maranatha Baptist Church in his old hometown of Plains, Georgia.

I’m always interested in Bible studies. So, I was curious what the former president would have to say. …

To show you how out of touch with reality and the Bible Jimmy Carter is, according to this story, former President Malaise thinks, at least from one perspective, Jesus’ life was a failure. The only other information we get from the story – which, to my knowledge, has not been repudiated by Carter – is that the reason Jesus’ life was a failure was because, “His message was rejected by the religious authorities of his day and he was betrayed by disciples and crucified by the Romans.”

Excuse me for pointing out that Jesus’ very mission was to be “rejected by the religious authorities of his day, to be betrayed by some of his disciples and crucified by the Romans.” That was the plan all along. He knew it and willingly accepted His fate for expiating the sins of the world for those who would accept Him as Messiah, Lord, Son of God and Savior. So, I am still left wondering how Jesus failed in any way, shape or form. …

Jesus, in fact, came as a harbinger of what all the prophets from Creation forward pointed to – the ultimate restoration of the whole earth under His Kingship, the restitution of all things, as Peter called it, a Garden of Eden-style Earth under his wings. But He did not promise following Him would lead to a full, fruitful, happy and peaceful existence before the Kingdom was restored.

Ahhh, but that Kingdom will be ruled by Jesus from Jerusalem. And you should know that Carter believes Jerusalem is not the eternal capital of Israel, but the unfairly occupied territory of his buddies – the Palestinian Muslims. http://www.wnd.com/2017/08/definition-of-irony-jimmy-carter-thinks-jesus-failed/

Jimmy Carter, despite doing a Bible study and claiming to be a Christian, has many problems understanding the Bible. Though I do not believe that he was teaching that Jesus was a failure, he mainly seemed to suggest that we should not judge success improperly. Why do I conclude this? Notice more about Jimmy Carter’s message:

PLAINS, Ga. (RNS) — We wake at 5 a.m. because we are told everyone in our hotel has come for the same reason — to see 92-year-old Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States, conduct Bible study at Maranatha Baptist Church. …

Today, he says, we’ll be reviewing “one of the most difficult sections of the Bible.” …

From one perspective, he suggests, Jesus’ life was a failure. His message was rejected by the religious authorities of his day and he was betrayed by disciples and crucified by the Romans.

Carter suggests redefining what constitutes a successful life. “What kind of a person do I want to be?” he poses. “We make decisions about what kind of person we want to be and how we want to live the rest of our lives.” https://religionnews.com/2017/07/31/a-bible-study-led-by-92-year-old-jimmy-carter-is-a-sight-to-behold/

Actually, the real question is, “What kind of person does God want you to be?” (see also What is the Meaning of Life?).

Perhaps it should be mentioned that a couple of years ago, in perhaps what was the worst thing Jimmy Carter could have done for the USA at that time was to falsely claim that Jesus would endorse homosexual marriage (see Jimmy Carter claims Jesus would endorse homosexual marriage).

But the point of this post is not Jimmy Carter, but to point out that Jesus did not fail. The failure many have in understanding this fact is that they have listened to false and heretical teachers and do not understand Jesus’ message.

Which was?

Well, according to the New Testament, Jesus started out proclaiming and preaching the good news of the Kingdom of God:

14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:14-15)

43 “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.” (Luke 4:43)

The English word “kingdom” for this particular kingdom is mentioned approximately 149 times in the NKJV and 151 in the Douay Rheims Bible in the New Testament. Kingdoms require a king, territory, subjects, and laws (for more information, see also The Gospel of the Kingdom of God).  To help us become part of that kingdom, God loved humans so much that He sent Jesus to die for us (John 3:16-17). Jesus will come to the earth and His Kingdom will eliminate pain and sorrow (Revelation 21:4).  That truly is good news.

Of course, to be part of this kingdom requires repentance of sins (Acts 2:38), the sacrifice of Christ (Hebrews 10:12-14), the grace of God (Ephesians 2:8-9), the acceptance of Jesus Christ as savior (Titus 2:11-14), proper baptism (Acts 2:39), the keeping of the commandment to “walk just as He walked” (1 John 2:3-6), having the Spirit of God (Romans 8:9-11) and allowing Jesus to live His life in us (Galatians 2:20).  The fact that sinners will be saved is also part of the gospel.  This is also good news.

Despite what the Jews expected, Jesus did not come to live as a ruling king with His first appearance.

He came as the lamb of God:

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29).

A lamb to be sacrificed.

He was prophesied to die for us:

1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground.He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. 3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. (Isaiah 53:1-8)

And He did:

7 … For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.  (1 Corinthians 5:7).

Notice that this was part of the plan from the beginning as Jesus was:

8 … the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8).

So, while some may have seen that as failure, it was part of the plan.

Many seem to think that there is a war between Satan and God and that Satan is winning. They do not understand how Satan and what is happening on this planet fits in with God’s plan.

Some falsely think that God is calling all now, and that since most people have not been truly converted since Jesus came, they feel that God’s plan does not work–or at least not well. Thus, Jesus is supposedly a failure.

As most who profess Christ know, the Apostle Paul taught:

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Since we are saved by grace, is God’s grace so limited that He will only save a minority of humans who ever lived? If God is all-knowing, does He have a plan that will fail to fully grant His grace to most humans?

The Protestants teach that relatively few humans will ever experience God’s grace. They often quote John 3:16:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

But fail to understand the ramifications of the next verse:

17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved (John 3:17).

Jesus came so that as many as could truly wish to be saved, will be saved. If not in this age, then in the age to come.

Notice also:

27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.  (Hebrews 9:27-28)

So, there are parts of the plan AFTER Jesus returns again.

Joseph Farah mentioned the restitution of all things. A restoration will occur in the millennial portion of the Kingdom of God.

But another will be after the second resurrection and judgment.

What will happen during that judgment?

Although “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), and all then will be found guilty, Jesus taught that those blinded do not have their blindness held against them (John 9:41; cf. Isaiah 6:9-13). This is most likely part of why scripture shows:

6…all flesh shall see the salvation of God (Luke 3:6).

2 O You who hear prayer, To You all flesh will come (Psalms 65:2).

13 Therefore the Lord said: “Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths And honor Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts far from Me, And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men, 14 Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work Among this people, A marvelous work and a wonder; For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.”…24 These also who erred in spirit will come to understanding, And those who complained will learn doctrine. (Isaiah 29:24)

16 I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, And crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, And not forsake them. 17 They shall be turned back, They shall be greatly ashamed, Who trust in carved images, Who say to the molded images, ‘You are our gods.’ 18 “Hear, you deaf; And look, you blind, that you may see. (Isaiah 42:16-18)

10 The LORD has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; And all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God (Isaiah 52:10).

When people are no longer blind and Satan (“the god of this world,” 2 Corinthians 4:4, KJV) is cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10), the White Throne Judgment will begin (Revelation 20:11-12), and salvation will be offered to all who were blinded to it before (cf. Romans 11:7,17).

“Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25).

God is just and God will do right.  All who ever lived will have a real opportunity for salvation.

When Revelation 20:12 states, “And the dead were judged,” we in CCOG believe that these people actually get judged. Yet, certain Protestants claim that these people are “the wicked dead,” which implies that they were judged and sentenced prior to the time of the Great White Throne Judgment.

While the apparent majority of mainstream Protestants and Roman Catholics teach that most will suffer eternal torment, the Bible shows that “mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13). The Bible shows that God will plead with all flesh (Jeremiah 25:31; Isaiah 3:13) and that many will respond (Isaiah 42:16-18; 65:24; Ezekiel 11:16-20;36:24-38; Hosea 2:23).

Although not all will accept God’s offer of salvation, and this is not a second chance (those who truly had a chance and rejected God’s Holy Spirit will not get that opportunity to be forgiven per Mark 3:29), most will accept it and repent.

We in the Philadelphia portion of the Church of God believe that God is wise enough and loving enough to have a plan whereby salvation will be offered to all, and accepted by most.

We in the Continuing Church of God teach that most who ever lived will accept God’s generous offer (cf. Psalm 107:1-3; Matthew 8:11; Psalm 66:3) of salvation through Jesus (Acts 4:10-12) —who came so that all might be saved (John 3:16-17).

(More on God’s plan can be found in the article Universal Offer of Salvation: There Are Hundreds of Verses in the Bible Supporting the Doctrine of True Apocatastasis.)

It is the true God, that those in the true Church of God worship, who is truly the God of grace. The true God, who is love, will grant His grace to everyone who will accept! God’s plan will work:

24 The LORD of hosts has sworn, saying,”Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass, And as I have purposed, so it shall stand (Isaiah 14:24).

Does God have a purpose, a plan, that will grant grace to most or few? Does anyone doubt that God has had thoughts about granting His grace to everyone?

A God of love has a purpose to share His grace with more than a minority of humans who are predestined to be called in this age–an opportunity, according to Jesus, will occur in “the age to come” (Matthew 12:32; cf. Matthew 10:15).

Since the Bible teaches that there is a time before children can “know to refuse the evil and choose the good” (Isaiah 7:16) and that there is only one name under heaven by which salvation is available (Acts 4:12), how can young children and infants, for example, be judged and condemned for their works?

Most Protestants teach that one is either saved or likely permanently lost (however many seem to put babies, mentally challenged people, and very young children in the category that they are saved without first accepting Jesus Christ–an unbiblical concept). The general Protestant belief (babies notwithstanding) suggests that all the ‘unsaved’ are in the same situation. This does not seem to square with what Jesus taught in Matthew 11:23-24:

And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.

(Jesus taught the same basic thing regarding Chorazim being contrasted with Tyre, and Sidon, Luke 10:13). Now God destroyed Sodom for its wicked works (Genesis 18:20;19:24)–wicked works, that according to Paul’s writings make it impossible for them to inherit the Kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21). If what most Protestants believe is correct, then all in Sodom will be destroyed and will be no better off than those in Capernaum–which is a clear contradiction of what Jesus wrote.

Furthermore, Jesus did not let those in Capernaum know all that He did (though He did do miracles there, Luke 4:23), Matthew 8:4-5:

And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum…”

Also, He spoke to them in unclear language, like parables (John 6:41-59). So, we see that many wanted to see, but were not allowed to. Why?

The following scriptures show that only some are now called:

1 Peter 2:9-10, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light”.

Ephesians 1:4-6, “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will”.

Thus, only some are predestined to be chosen now.

And the time is soon coming when all the nations will get a witness.

Jesus wanted the gospel to be proclaimed to the world as a witness as well as to make disciples who would follow His practices:

14 “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).

19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. (Matthew 28:19-20)

Many do not quite understand many ramifications of those statements (for more information see Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God differ from most Protestants and Universal Offer of Salvation: There Are Hundreds of Verses in the Bible Supporting the Doctrine of True Apocatastasis).

Jesus knew His church would fulfill those commands as He also taught:

18 … I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18)

That true church is still around today and has been working to fulfill Jesus’ statements in Matthew 24:14 and Matthew 28:19-20. For more information, see also Continuing History of the Church of God.

God has a plan that does work. A plan that takes into account human weaknesses and experiences.

Protestants, like Jimmy Carter, really have not understood the truth about the good news of the coming Kingdom of God that Jesus proclaimed.

But you can.

Jesus did not fail. And He wants you to succeed as well–if you will heed His call.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, August 5th, 2017 at 7:50 am and is filed under Doctrine, Religious News.

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