Posts of irnawan silitonga RSSWed, 01 Apr 2026 10:41:52 GMTSummary: Elohim has a plan to make humanity in His own likeness and image. For this purpose, He placed humans in the Garden of Eden to be processed through two trees: the Tree of Life, which symbolizes the Life of Christ, and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which symbolizes the kind of “death” life ruled by the devil. Through a long process, humanity will ultimately become like Elohim in His likeness and image.Call to Action: As believers, let us live the Life of Christ day by day so that we may grow to become like Him in His likeness and image.Many Christians assume that when God created Adam and Eve and placed them in the Garden of Eden, they were already in His likeness and image. Then, when Adam and Eve fell into sin by disobeying God’s command not to eat from the tree of knowledge, God acted to save humanity by designing the redemption of Jesus on the cross. This view has been widely accepted in the Christian world for centuries.The reasoning behind this view is that although God created Adam and Eve in His likeness and image, He gave them free will, allowing them to choose between the tree of life and the tree of knowledge. Free will has become the basis for why this perspective is so popular and accepted as truth among Christians.This concept of free will also forms the basis of the doctrine of the fall of the devil, who is said to have originally been a good angel, Lucifer (the morning star). Because of his free will, he rebelled against God and became the evil devil. There is even a belief that he persuaded a third of the angels in heaven to join him in rebellion against God.I will not immediately refute this view. Instead, by explaining the plan of Elohim from the beginning to the end, we may begin to see how unusual this perspective actually is.Let us begin by looking at Genesis 1:26–28: “Then Elohim said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, o... Read more

]]>Wed, 01 Apr 2026 10:41:52 GMTSummary: The fall of humanity caused the glory of Elohim to diminish or be lost.Call to action: As believers, let us do everything for His glory.Our theme at this time is the glory of Elohim. This is an important theme found throughout the entire Bible, from the Book of Genesis to the Book of Revelation. The Hebrew term ‘kabod’, meaning ‘glory’, appears about 200 times in the Old Testament. The translators of the Old Testament (Hebrew) into the New Testament (Greek) chose the term ‘doxa’ to translate ‘kabod’.In Greek culture, the term ‘doxa’ originally referred to the ‘opinion’ others held regarding a person’s actions and achievements. A high opinion or high regard would elevate someone above others, and this became the goal of many Greeks—to be glorified and praised by others. However, the meaning of ‘doxa’ changed when it was used to translate ‘kabod’. It no longer referred merely to human opinion but came to signify glory related to the personal revelation of Elohim. The term ‘doxa’ appears 166 times in the New Testament.Let us begin by exploring the meaning of ‘kabod’ in the Old Testament. We will use the ‘first mention principle’, which holds that the first occurrence of a concept in the Bible carries a foundational meaning that remains consistent throughout Scripture. Although the term ‘kabod’ first appears in Genesis 31:1, its ‘demonstration’ appears much earlier.Consider Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory (‘doxa’) of Elohim” (ILT). Therefore, to understand ‘kabod’, we must examine the ‘demonstration’ of humanity’s first fall in the Garden of Eden. By understanding this, we will grasp the meaning of ‘kabod’. According to the first mention principle, this meaning becomes the foundational meaning, while later occurrences only expand or complete it.Now let us look at Genesis 2:25: “And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” Meanwhile, Philippians 1:20 states: “My eager expectation and hope is that I will not... Read more

]]>Wed, 25 Mar 2026 03:17:22 GMTSummary: The seven feasts of Israel are only a shadow, and their fulfillment takes place within the inner being of believers in the context of the New Testament. In Revelation 2–3, there is a reward for the overcomers in the church in the form of a spiritual experience with Christ. Indeed, this spiritual experience is the fulfillment of the seven feasts of Israel.Call to Action: The Lord calls His overcomers in every age of the church. May we hear the Lord’s call to rise up and experience a spiritual life together with Christ.Today we will discuss the feasts of Israel and their fulfillment. There are seven feasts of Israel, three of which are commonly called the major feasts. Three times a year the Israelites had to come to Jerusalem to celebrate them. Deuteronomy 16:16 affirms: “Three times a year every male among you shall appear before YAHWEH your Elohim in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Sukkot…” (ILT).Let us look directly at these feasts. First, the Feast of Passover (Leviticus 23:4–5). Second, the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:6–8). Third, the Feast of the Sheaf of Firstfruits (Leviticus 23:9–14). Fourth, the Feast of Pentecost or the Feast of Weeks (Leviticus 23:15–22). Fifth, the Feast of Trumpets (Leviticus 23:23–25). Sixth, the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:26–32). Seventh, the Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:33–44). The Feast of Passover occurs in the first month, the Feast of Pentecost in the third month, and the Feast of Tabernacles in the seventh month.Thus, briefly, these are the feasts of Israel. Before we proceed, we must first establish the interpretive principle we will use to understand the fulfillment of these feasts. Some interpreters understand the fulfillment of the feasts of Israel as an ‘external event’ that the church will experience. For example, based on this principle of interpretation, the church will experience the “rapture” at the fulfillment of a ... Read more

]]>Wed, 18 Mar 2026 09:22:40 GMTSummary: Church history shows that every new movement from Elohim eventually becomes dry and rigid, so Elohim begins a new movement again. And this new movement is like “new wine that cannot be received by old wineskins.” That is why the new and fresh movement of Elohim is always found “outside the camp” of the old movement.Call to action: May we receive His grace to serve Him within the new and fresh movement of Elohim.Our theme this time is ministry outside the camp. Many Christians, including those who are called “full-time” ministers within the Christian world, do not realize that there is a ministry outside the Christian religious system in this age. There is “new wine” that cannot be contained in “old wineskins.” There is new revelation that cannot be received by the Christian religious world. This happens in every age, because God continually moves and works to give new revelation. This does not mean that God is not working and pouring out His blessings into the “old wineskins.” It is hoped that through the principles and examples found in the Bible, we will understand this theme. In fact, from the book of Genesis to the book of Revelation, the Bible speaks about ministry outside the camp. We will discuss this through this brief writing.Let us begin with the ministry of the Lord Jesus and also the ministry of John the Baptist. In the time of Jesus, there was already a ministry in the Temple in Jerusalem. The ministry in the Jerusalem Temple was not a random ministry without clear regulations, because it was based on the covenant of Moses. Likewise, the ministry in the Temple had its own magnificence. Here the scribes and the Pharisees established a religious court called the Sanhedrin, whose high priest at that time was Caiaphas, with seventy members. Within the Sanhedrin were people such as Gamaliel, Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, and other figures who were respected by the people. They also had their own rabbinical schools. The Temple in Jerusalem was also... Read more

]]>Thu, 12 Mar 2026 12:50:15 GMTSummary: The most important thing in proclaiming the Good News and in understanding the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament is recognizing the natural–spiritual principle. By understanding this principle, we can understand the stories in the Bible in their proper context.Call to action: By His grace, we can come to know this natural–spiritual principle and proclaim the Gospel correctly.The Natural–Spiritual Principle is a very important principle, because it is not only a gospel principle but also a principle for understanding both the Old Testament (OT) and the New Testament (NT). Let us read 1 Corinthians 15:46: “However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.” This means that what comes first is the natural (physical or fleshly), and only afterward comes the spiritual. Let us consider the context of this verse.First Corinthians is easier to understand in its structure than Second Corinthians, because First Corinthians discusses issues one by one in sequence. Our verse above is part of the issue discussed in chapter 15, namely the issue concerning the gospel (verse 1). Specifically, there are two issues addressed here. First, some among the Corinthians said that there is no resurrection of the dead (verse 12). In response to this issue, Paul answers from verse 13 through verse 32. Second, some asked, “With what kind of body will they come?” (verse 35). Here Paul explains that there is a heavenly body (a spiritual body), and there is also an earthly body (a natural body). It is in this section that our verse appears, namely that what comes first is the natural body, and afterward the spiritual body.The Natural–Spiritual Principle is very general and broad in nature. For example, in the creation of humanity, the first man was from the dust of the earth, while the second Man is from heaven. In terms of covenants, the first covenant (OT) is physical in nature, whereas the second covenant (NT) is spiritual in na... Read more

]]>Sun, 08 Mar 2026 12:43:42 GMTSummary: God’s arrangement speaks of His sovereignty in determining all things. Although human beings possess will, thoughts, and feelings as persons, they cannot determine the course of their own lives; everything has already been arranged by God for them.Call to Action: We must use our thoughts, feelings, and will to learn to cooperate with God so that His will may be fulfilled in us.Our title this time is the ordinance of God. What is meant by ‘ordinance’ is that everything has been arranged beforehand. There is no event that can be called ‘coincidental’. Whether great or important events, or small events that even escape human attention—such as a bird falling to the ground—all of these have been arranged beforehand. The ordinance of God means that everything that happens is arranged by God. Both great and small matters, both important and trivial matters in this universe, are all arranged by God. The Bible says that not a single bird falls to the ground apart from the will of the Father. The Bible even says that the hairs on our heads are all numbered by Him. This proves that God’s ordinance is extraordinary and extremely detailed.Why is the matter of God’s ordinance important for us to discuss? This is because there is a concept that has generally prevailed in the Christian world, namely the view that bad events do not come from God; bad events come from the Devil. For example, the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, or other bad events that befall the children of God, such as accidents, disasters, being fired from work, and so on. Through this understanding, it is as if there are two forces governing events in the universe. If something evil happens, it comes from the power of the Devil. If something good happens, it comes from the power of God.This concept or understanding is known as ‘dualism’. According to the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (second edition), page 357, dualism means an interpretation or understanding of certain events as a strugg... Read more

]]>Sat, 28 Feb 2026 12:10:00 GMTSummary: The essence of this book explains that all members of the early church were fully led directly by the Holy Spirit. There were no religious regulations whatsoever, except being completely guided by the Holy Spirit.Call to Action: As believers, may we receive His grace to continually learn to be led by the Holy Spirit day by day.We now enter the Book of Acts and observe how the apostles carried out their works in spreading the gospel of the Kingdom. As we already know, there is only one gospel proclaimed in the books of the New Testament, namely the gospel of the Kingdom. Jesus and John the Baptist cried out, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” And we will see that the proclamation of the apostles in this book is focused on the kingdom of heaven.The Book of Acts was written by Luke to Theophilus as a continuation of his Gospel. In his Gospel, Luke recounts all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day He was taken up into heaven (Luke 24:51). Before being taken up into heaven, for forty days Jesus repeatedly appeared and spoke to His disciples about the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of Elohim (Acts 1:3). Jesus spoke of nothing else except the kingdom of heaven, which indeed would later become the main theme or central focus of the apostles’ proclamation.The Book of Acts consists of 28 chapters, which we can divide into two parts. Chapters 1–12 record the ministry of Peter and his team, primarily to the Jewish people. Then the second part, chapters 13–28, records the ministry of Paul and his team, who brought the gospel to the Gentiles, even as far as Rome, which at that time was the center of the Roman Empire.Luke mentions that Paul taught about the Lord Jesus and the kingdom of heaven for two years in Rome while under house arrest, and then the book ends abruptly (Acts 28:31). There are many views as to why Luke ended the book so suddenly. However, in our view, there is an important truth hidden in this. Both Peter and Paul were martyr... Read more

]]>Sun, 22 Feb 2026 06:37:03 GMTSummary: The Book of Revelation is the revelation of Jesus Christ and His Church, conveyed through symbolic language.Call to action: By His grace, we are able to live out the function of the Church as priests according to the order of Melchizedek, and as kings in everyday life.We are entering a new theme, namely, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven in the Book of Revelation’. This means that we will discuss the theme of the Kingdom of Heaven as it is revealed in the Book of Revelation. This does not mean that we will look only at the Book of Revelation without quoting or paying attention to other books in the Bible. For the principle of hermeneutics affirms that only Scripture should interpret Scripture. Therefore, we will continue to consider the entire ‘line of thought’ of the Bible in understanding the Book of Revelation.There are several things that need to be affirmed before we enter the Book of Revelation. First, the Book of Revelation is a revelation conveyed in symbolic language. Revelation 1:1 states, “The Revelation of JESUS Christ, which Elohim gave to Him… He made it known to His servant John” (ILT). The term ‘made it known’ here is translated from the Greek term ‘semaino’, derived from the root word ‘sema’, which means ‘sign/symbol’. Therefore, we must be careful not to interpret the Book of Revelation ‘literally’.Second, the Book of Revelation is a book that is ‘positive’ in nature, in the sense that it is ‘restorative’. This is because the Book of Revelation reveals the PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST, as stated in the verse above. Thus, every calamity, plague, or any form of ‘destruction’ is merely a means or an event with the purpose of revealing the person of Jesus. We must focus on the revelation of the person of Jesus, and not on the frightening stories written in this book. Those frightening stories and expressions must be interpreted symbolically, in accordance with the symbolic language of the Book of Revelation. John 3:17 affirms, “For Elohim did not send His Son ... Read more

]]>Tue, 10 Feb 2026 05:44:40 GMTSummary: The Gospel of Matthew presents the Messianic Kingdom to the Jewish people. In this book, there are teachings about the Messianic Kingdom that will be established on earth.Call to action: By His grace, let us learn to live out the Kingdom of Heaven on earth now, in our daily lives, day by day.Our theme this time is the kingdom of heaven in the Gospel of Matthew. This brief writing does not intend to interpret the book of Matthew verse by verse, but only to discuss the theme of the ‘kingdom of heaven’ found in this book. Indeed, Matthew is the gospel for Christians of Jewish background, in which its main theme is the kingdom of heaven. In fact, the central theme of the books in the New Testament is the kingdom of heaven, because Jesus and His apostles proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, the subject of the kingdom of heaven is very important for us to understand together.Unfortunately, within Christianity the expression “believe in Jesus and go to heaven” has become commonly accepted, where “heaven” is usually understood as a certain geographical place somewhere in the universe. It is also taught that Christians will be raptured when the Lord Jesus returns, although not all Christians hold this teaching. Through this brief writing, we will attempt to understand what Jesus and His apostles actually proclaimed regarding the kingdom of heaven.Let us begin with the genealogy of Jesus Christ written in Matthew 1:1–17. We will not discuss this genealogy in detail, but we will observe a kind of conclusion found in verse 17: “So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, from David to the exile to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the exile to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.”If we count these sets of fourteen generations, we find that from Abraham (1) to David (14), then from Solomon (1) to Jeconiah (14), and next from Shealtiel (1) to Jesus we only find (13), meaning the fourteenth is Christ. Verse ... Read more

]]>Thu, 29 Jan 2026 12:04:53 GMTSummary: There are three principles by which God works: the principle of faith, the principle of process, and the principle of the Old and New Covenants.Call to action: As the church, by His grace, we need to learn to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in carrying out these three principles.Within the Christian world there is considerable confusion regarding how God works in the context of the Old Testament (OT) and in the context of the New Testament (NT). What principles govern the way God works in the OT and in the NT? Does God still desire that His laws in the OT be applied to believers in the NT context? Were the saints in the OT justified by faith or by works of obedience to the Law? Do certain regulations of the Mosaic Law still apply to NT believers, such as the law of tithing, firstfruits (money), the celebration of Passover, or other regulations related to the OT?We will begin our discussion by examining a Greek term used in 1 Timothy 1:4, namely OIKONOMIA. We will quote the ILT (Indonesian Literal Translation) to see how this term is rendered: “nor give heed to myths and endless genealogies, which produce disputes rather than the stewardship (oikonomia) of Elohim that is in faith” (I Timothy 1:4). In several English translations, ‘oikonomia’ is also translated as management, dispensation, economy, or administration.The Greek term OIKONOMIA is derived from the root words OIKOS and NOMOS. Oikos means house or household, while nomos refers to the distribution of rules or laws. Thus, when combined, these roots convey the meaning of a way of managing a household—an administration, a dispensation, or a management. In other words, Elohim manages His household or governs His people in a particular way, and the manner or principle of His working is found in faith.Scholars have attempted to divide Elohim’s administration of His people into several ages. Some divide it into seven ages, while others divide it into only four. I divide it into seven ages: the age of Adam, ... Read more

]]>Wed, 07 Jan 2026 04:27:32 GMT