It is impossible to reference the movement of the living God’s chief apostle without mentioning how it says, “If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death.”
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, written after the destruction of Jerusalem is, in one context, written from the perspective of a mind taking those events, and their then underlying philosophical and prophetic stance, into consideration. In another context, their narratives, built upon many other narrative manuscripts, are written to support the traditional belief of those former manuscripts. In yet another context, underneath all of their prevailing contexts, rests the original structure of their tale, a structure built upon philosophy.
Historically, prior to the gospels having a narrative, no narrative existed. The story of a resurrection and an ascension, the stories of healings, the stories concerning the birth of the main character, did not exist within the writings of the movement’s original assembly. What did exist were lines of sayings, or a record of wisdom, explaining an understanding that later writers of the narrative styled, “The kingdom of God.”
What is the “kingdom of God”? It says, “It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened,” Luke 13.21. What does this mean? It says, ”The kingdom of God is within you,” Luke 17:21. What is ‘leaven’? It says, “… he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees,” Matthew 16:12.
Before all of the stories connected to the narrative within the gospels existed, only parables and wise sayings existed. These sayings explained the definition of the “kingdom of God.” Because a parable must be understood according to the illustration rehearsed, “leaven,” for example, according to the scriptures, is but “doctrine.” “The kingdom of God” is, in reality, an inward experience where the living God’s doctrine is rising up inside of the conversation.
The living God’s chief apostle preached the rising up of the living God’s doctrine within the conversation. This “rising up,” or “resurrection,” is the regeneration taught by the new covenant promise. It says, “I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people,” Jeremiah 31:33.
Strip the narrative from the “saying” within them and we have what the man taught. The man taught a saying that, when observed, didn’t lead to “death.” What is this “death”? Because the “kingdom” is not literal, but is an experience occurring within, it is fair to conclude that the “death” referenced also isn’t literal, but is an experience occurring within.
I’ve spent time, in past blog posts, writing about the definition of “righteousness,” because there is a righteousness that is defined as “death.” This “death” is found in the saying, “That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven,” Matthew 5:20.
The righteousness referenced is highlighted in the saying, “Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition,” Mark 7:9. The righteousness mentioned is the “death” that is referenced; the “death” referenced is traditional religion, or is traditional religious law. Said plainly, “The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law,” 1 Corinthians 15:56.
To the Bible, “sin” and “death” is defined as the philosophy of the religious law. Why is this important to know? It is important to know because it says, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law,” Galatians 3:13.
The narrative of a demigod dying and rising for the sins of humanity is, according to the Bible, a false narrative. This is not, according to Bible language and context, what the Bible teaches. What the Bible teaches is that “sin” is the traditional religious law, and that if taking confidence on the crucifixion, then the conversation takes confidence on the fact of an illustration highlighting the traditional religious law as “sin” and as “death.”
If attentive to the “kingdom of God,” the conversation will not know “death” because it will learn to refrain from it. The “saying” encouraging the conversation to refrain from “death” is the doctrine of “the kingdom of God,” which doctrine, when found within the heart of the conversation, will cause a great resurrection in devotional thought and feeling.