To Our Christian God with Love

By T. J. Keller

Do you have questions about salvation and the Trinity that seem to go unanswered by your spiritual leaders? I know I did. I studied and prayed with the Lord to help me find the answers. I truly believe it was His desire for me to write this book once I invited Jesus into my heart. This does not make my book perfect or even just the way He wants it. I am only an ordinary layman. However, without the Holy Spirits help and encouragement, I would not have completed this book. I am giving this book back to Him to use toward His kingdoms work. To do this, I am sharing it with you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Mar 16, 2015
• ISBN: 9781490871684

T. J. Keller

T. J. Keller is from a small Indiana town. He was raised on a farm in the 1940s and ’50s, and was surrounded by church-going people. He is a born-again Christian. He still lives close to his hometown with his wife of fifty-three years and their four children.

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Copyright © 2015 T. J. Keller.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture is taken from the King James Version of our Holy Bible.

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-7169-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-7170-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-7168-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015903316

WestBow Press rev. date: 02/26/2015

CONTENTS

Preface

Chapter 1    The Mysterious Secret

Chapter 2    Divine Trinity

Chapter 3    What Must We Do to Be Saved?

Chapter 4    The Christian God of Differences

Chapter 5    The Baptism in the Holy Spirit

Chapter 6    Surrendering Control

Chapter 7    The Begotten Son

Chapter 8    They Are One

Chapter 9    If My People

Chapter 10    Born Again

Chapter 11    Who Is the Father?

Chapter 12    God’s Righteousness

Chapter 13    Do We Need to Receive the Holy Spirit?

Chapter 14    The Narrow Gate

Chapter 15    The Great Commission

About The Author

PREFACE

When I first began to understand that God desired for me to write, I authored material for booklets, writing by hand on paper tablets. After I received a computer, I put the booklet writings in word processing documents to preserve them for years until I was ready to make a manuscript to be published.

The content of many of those booklets is now included in some of the chapters in this book, with minor changes and editing. They are generally based on the time period in which they were written; in some instances, they do not include knowledge that I learned later in my life.

Preparing this book has become a learning process that I greatly needed. But without the Holy Spirit’s help and the encouragements from the staff of this publisher, I would not have this result. So I am giving this back to God toward His Kingdom’s work. Any proceeds from the sale of this book I will probably give for the purchase of additional books to mail to other people and churches. And if anyone else desires, they can also buy more books to give to others.

The term Christian God helps to identify which God in this world’s system I am referring to. I call Him the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, who comes to us in Jesus’ name, and is our one and only Trinity God.

T. J. Keller

CHAPTER 1

The Mysterious Secret

Around 1962, I worked close to a preacher in a factory. I asked him once if a person could know for sure that he was saved. This preacher told me that he could show me the very spot where the Lord had saved him, and then he told me how God had touched him and done a work in his heart.

For some reason, this man kept as a secret from me how anyone else could have this born-again experience. Some people may think that a person needs to be in a church where others are praying and the like in order to get saved.

At that time in my life, I was a believer in Jesus as Savior, but listening to this preacher’s experience made me think that I was not saved. If I had a book like this back then, it could have changed my life much sooner.

After many years of searching, I received this born-again experience by learning more about Jesus and allowing Him to be God my Savior. Also, praying to Him and asking Him to come into my heart allowed me to be spiritually baptized in Jesus’ name through the Holy Spirit.

There has been a desire in my heart to tell others how they, too, can receive this miracle from God. After receiving some wisdom from God and His Word, I have some insights about this mystery.

As a practical matter, some information in this book about how to become saved might not be applicable to certain readers who already have salvation. For example, there are invitational prayers. I included them just in case a person desires them. If that is not for you, then please skip over them.

The Bible says: "Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:14–15, emphasis added). (John the Baptist, referred to here, is discussed again in chapter 7 of this book.)

The word repent means that a person seeking God must change his or her mind and heart about what they believe. They must seek God by being willing to change how they are living.

To believe in the gospel is first to hear about Jesus and what He has done for us and then to trust that message with all of our heart.

When Jesus says the time is fulfilled, He means that now, today, is that time in history, and we are to be ready—for the kingdom of God is at hand or will soon be here.

Jesus has accomplished what the Old Testament predicted about Him. We do know that He died on a Roman cross and His blood was shed to take away our sins; we also know that the Father raised Him up from the dead on the third day.

We need to know who Jesus is and everything about Him, not only in the present but also earlier. In order to do so, we must go back to the very beginning of time, before anything was created. The Bible tells us in the gospel of Saint John: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth (John 1:1, 14).

The Word was with God the Father; and He was also God. Together, the Father and the Word and the Spirit are the plural God.

The Word who became flesh and dwelt among us is the One we call Jesus today. Until He was sent as the Son of Man, He was known as the Word, and He is also God. Together, the Father, the Word, and the Spirit are the one plural God.

As the Son of Man, the Word died for our sins and was resurrected from the dead.

We can see here in the very beginning of time, before anything was created, that our plural God was the Word and Father God and Holy Spirit—together, the one and only God.

Jesus had three close friends in Bethany, about two miles from Jerusalem. A man named Lazarus had two sisters, Mary and Martha. The sisters sent a message to Jesus saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. Jesus stayed where He was for two more days. (See John 11:3–6.)

Then He told His disciples to accompany him to Judea again, saying, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth, but I go, that I may wake him out of sleep (John 11:11). Then Jesus said to them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him (John 11:14–15).

So when Jesus came, He found that Lazarus had been in the grave four days already (John 11:17). Jesus conversed with Martha. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believe thou this She saith unto Him, Yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world (John 11:25–27).

Lazarus had believed in Jesus, but at that time Jesus had not yet died for our sins; so although Lazarus did die, he lived again by Jesus raising him from the dead. (See John 11:38–44). Now that Jesus has died for our sins, we who do believe in Him will never die. Our spirit will go straight to heaven, while our bodies will stay here.

Isaiah was one who prophesied in the Old Testament about Jesus: Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14). The gospel of Saint Matthew says that all of this fulfilled what had been spoken by the Lord’s prophet: Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us (Matthew 1:23). (According to a footnote in the New King James Version at Isaiah 7:14, the term literally means God is with us.) This was an Old Testament prophecy, meaning that it would happen in the future someday. That day did come about: when the virgin Mary did conceive in her womb, God was literally with us in person.

When the Word was born as the Son of Man, the Father was with the Word, and the Word was in the Father. An angel of the Lord appeared to some shepherds the day the Word was born: And the angel said unto them, Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:10–11).

The angel said that this promised Savior was Christ the Lord, or one could say, Christ who is God.

Martha told Jesus that He is the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world. She confessed that Jesus had come into this world, so she knew He had come from God.

What people think today when they hear the phrase the Son of God differs from the meaning it would have had two thousand years ago. Some people today might think of a male child, in human terms, as if there were a Mrs. God and she gave birth to a male child. But the people thousands of years ago must have understood the term Son of God to refer to God whom we can see; under that view, since no one can see God, this one whom we can see must be called the Son of God because we can see Him.

Remember the Bible account of the three Hebrew men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the burning furnace? The first chapters of Daniel tell us that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. Then he instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring certain of the children of Israel who were of the king’s seed and of the princes (Daniel 1:3).

The king wanted these men to eat and drink his food and wine, but Daniel refused to defile himself by doing this. The king also set up a gold image for everyone to worship, but the Hebrew children refused to worship it. (See Daniel 1:5–8.) The Bible tells what the king commanded about the consequences of failing to worship the image and what happened after that.

And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. (Daniel 3:6)

Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated. (Daniel 3:19)

And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. (Daniel 3:23–25)

Footnote 8 in the New King James Version translation (NKJV) explains this passage about the fourth person seen walking amid the fire. It says: "or a son of the gods. You see, nearly everyone who reads this passage says it is referring to Jesus; so they used capital letters to make it seem like it was Jesus! (Or the Son of God.) But King Nebuchadnezzar saw a form that he knew to be a divine person who he could see, so he said, a son of the gods."

What he did see was a person divinely sent by God to protect His three Hebrew children and to convince the king that the Hebrew children’s God was the only true God. That fourth person in the fire was not Jesus, but an angel.

There was a day thousands of years later that God sent the Word to become a man; it was on that day only that the Word became flesh and was called Jesus.

The Old Testament talked about angels of the Lord coming to help out in different situations at different times.

Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came forth of the midst of the fire. And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king’s counselors gathered together, saw these men up on whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them. Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in Him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship