Category: Romans

Wasting Anything Is a Sin

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Romans 16

25 Praise God! He can make you strong by means of my good news, which is the message about Jesus Christ. For ages and ages this message was kept secret, 26 but now at last it has been told. The eternal God commanded his prophets to write about the good news, so that all nations would obey and have faith. 27 And now, because of Jesus Christ, we can praise the only wise God forever! Amen.

Joshua 8

21-24 One region of Benjamin’s tribal land had twelve towns with their surrounding villages. Those towns were Jericho, Beth-Hoglah, Emek-Keziz, Beth-Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, Chephar-Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba.

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Chapter 4

God’s Creation and Human Creativity

Stewardship

2. Conservation and Sustainable Development

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Nature always seeks balance, and has been doing so unceasingly for billions of years. What about you Americans: are you in balance or not? You waste excessively. Once when I went to a public rest-room, I saw someone tear off a long strip of toilet paper and use only the end of it, leaving two-thirds unused on the floor. (339:165, December 20, 2000)

Wasting anything is a sin, from the principled viewpoint. When we were born, we are allotted only a certain amount of material for our use. If we use more than the allotted amount, we are committing sin. We should conserve resources for our posterity. (June 13, 2000)

How to solve environmental pollution is one of the biggest problems facing humanity. According to scientists, once the ozone layer is depleted, humankind will not be able to survive the sun’s ultra-violet rays. Pollution is even changing the climate. We should, therefore, change our lifestyle. We should live a simple life in nature, as people did in the ancient times. We should even go to the bathroom in nature, which recycles human waste as fertilizer, rather than causing pollution to the environment. (203:56, June 14, 1990)

We should not allow animal species to become extinct. We should nurture them and then set them free. Zoos should not just exhibit animals; they should breed them to set free in the wild. We should likewise protect insect species. We should protect and nurture all the species of plants, which are food for animals. We should protect the seeds of the world, that no plant species becomes extinct. (324:118, June 17, 2000)

Already, some species of insects, fish and animals have become extinct. If this phenomenon con-tinues unabated, then in 600 years, or even 300 years, human beings will also become extinct. (326:152, July 7, 2000)

We should raise fish in farms and then let them loose. We can hatch them from eggs like we raise chickens. After letting them loose, we love them, then catch and eat them. The things of creation serve as living offerings to compensate their owner for the love they have received: thus does the creation provide food for people. Now, instead of just catching fish, we should first farm them…Krill is high in protein; it is a good resource that can be food for animals. This foodstuff exists for the sake of humanity. By supplying the world with krill, we can solve the world’s food problems. We can lay water pipelines to the desert and create fish farms. Just as petroleum is brought to the American mainland from Alaska, it should be possible to pipe seawater or freshwater to any place in the world. Amazon River water can be piped to the desert. Then it can be developed for fish farming. We should breed and grow fish with a loving heart, before we eat them. By creating fish farms in the desert, we can also use the water to irrigate the land to grow vegetables and grass. Every year, more land is turning into desert. Through human ingenuity, by establishing fish farms, the desert will become a place of marshes and trees. I am not just thinking small-scale; I envision transforming a huge desert into fish farms that will produce an infinite supply of food. (324:114-15, June 17, 2000)

Solutions to the world’s environmental problems cannot be arrived at through the efforts of scien-tists alone, or by the efforts of any one individual, organization, or nation… They call for sacrifice and cooperation among all peoples of the world, transcending the interests of any one community or nation. Such a spirit of cooperation will be attained only when all people view themselves as mem-bers of the same human family. This revolutionary change in human consciousness has long been needed, and is vital to humanity’s survival today. (74:108-09, November 21, 1974)

Do You Not Know that You Are God’s Temple?

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Romans 4

9 Are these blessings meant for circumcised people or for those who are not circumcised? Well, the Scriptures say that God accepted Abraham because Abraham had faith in him. 10 But when did this happen? Was it before or after Abraham was circumcised? Of course, it was before.

Richard: What is the universal religion in this new age? On the external level, it is the teaching of sexual abstinence and purity before marriage, and absolute fidelity and faithfulness within marriage. This is what we will be teaching about in the Urban Life Training Chapter Workshop.
Internally, the universal religion is the teachings of the Eight Sacred Textbooks and the Blessing of Marriage taught by Rev. Sun Myung Moon as the True Parent.

Isaiah 41

3 He goes after them so quickly
that his feet
    barely touch the ground—
he doesn’t even get hurt.

4 Who makes these things happen?
Who controls human events?
    I do! I am the Lord.
I was there at the beginning;
    I will be there at the end.
5 Islands and foreign nations
saw what I did
and trembled
    as they came near.

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Chapter 3

The Purpose of Human Life

The Temple of God

Human beings are meant to be the living temples of God. At the creation of man God injected a special element of His Spirit that endows the human mind with divine qualities, such as love, creativity, and the desire for the eternal. God wants to make His home in human beings. With the Spirit of God resonating with the mind, the body sees, hears and acts as God would see, hear and act. By thus acting on behalf of the formless and invisible God, human beings are sanctified, and through them God is able to sanctify others.
In Hinduism and other eastern faiths, this indwelling presence of Ultimate Reality is called the Self or Atman. However, most people live in ignorance of the Self, and they live entirely from egoistic motives. To misconstrue the personal ego as the Holy Spirit would be a serious error and even a mark of insanity. For Father Moon, we are like temples that suffered desecration due to the tragedy of the human fall. God’s Spirit cannot dwell in fallen people. Originally, Adam and Eve were to become temples of God and act as God’s earthly body to beautify this world and transform it into a Garden of Eden. Jesus came as God’s temple; therefore he could reveal God in his person. Through God’s grace and human efforts at restoration, we too can attain the position of God’s temples.

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and
that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
1 Corinthians 3.16

Let a man always consider himself as if the Holy
One dwells within him.
Talmud, Ta’anit 11b (Judaism)

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer
I who live, but Christ who lives in me. 3
Galatians 2.20

Heaven and earth contain Me not, but the heart
of my faithful servant contains Me.
Hadith of Suhrawardi (Islam)

Just as God fills the whole world, so the soul fills
the body. Just as God sees but is not seen, so the
soul sees but is not itself seen. Just as God feeds
the whole world, so the soul feeds the whole
body. Just as God is pure, so the soul is pure.
Just as God dwells in the innermost precincts
[of the Temple], so also the soul dwells in the
innermost part of the body.
Talmud, Berakot 10a (Judaism)

When I love him, I am his hearing by which he
hears, his sight by which he sees, his hand by which
he strikes, and his foot with which he walks.
40 Hadith of an-Nawawi 38 (Islam)

I have breathed into man of My spirit.
Qur’an 15.29

The l ord God formed man of dust from the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath
of life; and man became a living being.
Genesis 2.7

Smaller than the smallest, greater than the great-
est, this Self forever dwells within the hearts of
all. When a man is free from desire, his mind
and senses purified, he beholds the glory of the
Self and is without sorrow.
Though seated, he travels far; though at rest, he
moves all things. Who but the purest of the pure
can realize this Effulgent Being, who is joy and
who is beyond joy.
Formless is he, though inhabiting form. In the midst
of the fleeting he abides forever. All-pervading
and supreme is the Self. The wise man, knowing
him in his true nature, transcends all grief.
Katha Upanishad 1.2.20-22 (Hinduism)

Bright but hidden, the Self dwells in the heart.
Everything that moves, breathes, opens, and
closes
lives in the Self. He is the source of love
and may be known through love but not
through thought.
He is the goal of life. Attain this goal!
The shining Self dwells hidden in the heart.
Everything in the cosmos, great and small,
lives in the Self. He is the source of life,
truth beyond the transience of this world.
He is the goal of life. Attain this goal!
Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.1-2 (Hinduism)

The rich build temples to Shiva,
What shall I, a poor man, do?
O my Lord! my legs are the pillars,
My torso, the shrine,
And my head, the golden pinnacle!
Things standing shall fall,
But the moving ever shall stay! 4
Basavanna, Vacana 820 (Hinduism)

Abdullah bin Omar saw the Messenger (PBUH)
walking around the Ka’ba saying, “How blessed
you are, O Ka’ba, and your fragrant wind. How
great, how great is your sacredness! By Allah,
owner of my soul, to Allah the sacredness of a
believer has greater holiness than you.”
Sunnan Ibn Majah 5 2.3932 (Islam)

Man was also in the beginning with God.
Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not cre-
ated or made, neither indeed can be. All truth
is independent in that sphere in which God has
placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also;
otherwise there is no existence.
Behold, here is the agency of man, and here
is the condemnation of man; because that which
was from the beginning is plainly manifest unto
them, and they receive not the light. And every
man whose spirit receives not the light is under
condemnation.
For man is spirit. The elements are eternal,
and spirit and element, inseparably connected,
receive a fullness of joy; and when separated,
man cannot receive a fullness of joy. The
elements are the tabernacle of God; yea, man
is the tabernacle of God, even temples; and
whatsoever temple is defiled, God shall destroy
that temple. 6
Doctrine and Covenants 93.29-35
(Latter-day Saints)

Absolute Truth Is Indestructible

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Romans 4

18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”[d] 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” 23 The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

Ezekiel 20

5 Tell them that long ago I, the Lord God, chose Israel to be my own. I appeared to their ancestors in Egypt and made a solemn promise that I would be their God and the God of their descendants. 6 I swore that I would rescue them from Egypt and lead them to a land I had already chosen. This land was rich with milk and honey and was the most splendid land of all. 7 I told them to get rid of their disgusting idols and not to sin by worshiping the gods of Egypt. I reminded them that I was the Lord their God, 8 but they still rebelled against me. They refused to listen and kept on worshiping their idols and foreign gods.

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Chapter 2

Truth and Universal Law

Eternal Truth

2. Truth Is Absolute

From the bosom of the sacred Word He
brought forth the world.
On high, below, He abides in His own laws.
Atharva Veda 4.1.3 (Hinduism)

There is no changing the words of God; that is
the mighty triumph.
Qur’an 10.64

Righteousness and justice are the foundations
of thy throne;
steadfast love and faithfulness go before thee.
Psalm 89.14

Truth is victorious, never untruth.
Truth is the way; truth is the goal of life,
Reached by sages who are free from self-will.
Mundaka Upanishad 3.1.6 (Hinduism)

By Divine Law are all forms manifested;
Inexpressible is the Law.
By Divine Law are beings created;
By Law are some exalted.

By Divine Law are beings marked with nobility
or ignominy;
By the Law are they visited with bliss or bale.
On some by His Law falls grace;
Others by His Law are whirled around in cycles
of births and deaths.
All by the Law are governed,
None is exempt.
Says Nanak, Should man realize the power of
the Law,
He would certainly disclaim his ego.
Japuji 2, M.1, p. 1 (Sikhism)

Absolute truth is indestructible. Being indestruc-
tible, it is eternal. Being eternal, it is self-exis-
tent. Being self-existent, it is infinite. Being infi-
nite, it is vast and deep. Being vast and deep, it
is transcendental and intelligent. It is because it
is vast and deep that it contains all existence. It
is because it is transcendental and intelligent that
it embraces all existence. It is because it is infinite
and eternal that it perfects all existence.
Doctrine of the Mean 26 (Confucianism)

What is meant by an eternally-abiding reality?
The ancient road of reality has been here all
the time, like gold, silver, or pearl preserved in
the mine. The Dharmadhatu (Absolute Truth)
abides forever, whether the Tathagata appears
in the world or not. As the Tathagata eternally
abides, so does the Reason of all things. Reality
forever abides, reality keeps its order, like the
roads in an ancient city.
For instance, a man who is walking in a
forest and discovering an ancient city with
its orderly streets may enter into the city, and
having entered into it, he may have a rest,
conduct himself like a citizen, and enjoy all
the pleasures accruing therefrom. What do you
think? Did this man make the road along which
he enters into the city, and the various things in
the city? [No.]
Just so, what has been realized by myself
and the other Tathagatas is this Reality, this
eternally-abiding reality, the self-regulating
reality, the Suchness of things, the Realness of
things, the truth itself.
Lankavatara Sutra 61 (Buddhism)

God is Tested Continually by the World

Romans 5

9 But there is more! Now that God has accepted us because Christ sacrificed his life’s blood, we will also be kept safe from God’s anger. 10 Even when we were God’s enemies, he made peace with us, because his Son died for us. Yet something even greater than friendship is ours. Now that we are at peace with God, we will be saved by his Son’s life. 11 And in addition to everything else, we are happy because God sent our Lord Jesus Christ to make peace with us.

Richard: But we should recognize also that Jesus came to fulfill God’s purpose of creation and create the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. As such, he did not come to die primarily; that was the result of the faithlessness of the people.: See Chapter 4 of the Divine Principle: The Messiah: His Advent and the Purpose of His Second Coming .

Matthew 28

11 While the women were on their way, some soldiers who had been guarding the tomb went into the city. They told the chief priests everything that had happened. 12 So the chief priests met with the leaders and decided to bribe the soldiers with a lot of money. 13 They said to the soldiers, “Tell everyone that Jesus’ disciples came during the night and stole his body while you were asleep. 14 If the governor[a] hears about this, we will talk to him. You won’t have anything to worry about.” 15 The soldiers took the money and did what they were told. The Jewish people still tell each other this story.

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Part 1
God and Creation

Chapter 1
God
Unchanging and Eternal

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

God is eternal. He was eternal in the past, He is eternal in the present, and He will be eternal in the future. (22:317, May 11, 1969)

Eternity cannot be captured within time, but time exists within eternity. (41:285)

God’s ideal is eternal. God is the center of absolute and eternal life. Yet the center of that ideal is true love, with “me” as its counterpart. (216:115, March 9, 1991)

To love means to take responsibility for eternity. Love is unchanging. If God changed the way people do, how could we ever trust Him? But God is unchanging and eternal. He wants to make a relationship with mankind through true love. Nevertheless, people are constantly changing, day in and day out. How can God trust us? (31:210, May 31, 1970)

Eternal life is essentially an attribute of love. Even God, when He created the universe, adhered to the standards of absolute faith, absolute love and absolute obedience. God lives this way, always desiring to invest more love for the world, even though everything in the world is transient. For this reason, every creature without exception attends Him as the absolute, unique, unchanging and eternal Lord. (330:262, August 18, 2000)

How old is God? For billions of years He has been growing old, waiting. If God had a beard, I am sure it would have grown all the way down to His feet, and if God grew taller every year, there’s no telling how tall He would have grown. By what power has He been able to endure and wait for so long? It is nothing else but love. (111:77, January 25, 1981)

If your day-to-day life has only a transient value, you cannot make a connection with eternity. Your life should connect with God’s eternal love. Only then will the eternal God be with you. (2:13, January 6, 1957)

When God decides something, His decision is unchanging for eternity. Can you meet God’s standard if you change your mind a dozen times a day? Truth is truth whether you live or die; it is eternal. Truth is beyond death, beyond changeability. Thus, in order for you to be a true person, you should be beyond death, and be unchangeably steadfast. This means there will be a collision at some point between your changeability and unchangeability. Unchanging elements will overcome changing elements. Changing elements will vanish. It is as if life and death collide. When you overcome death you will have life. Once you pass through this stage, then you can have a connection with God. (66:43-44, March 18, 1973)

Being absolute, God is tested continually by the world. Everyone—even Satan—tests whether God’s love is unchanging. If God were ever unable to overcome a test and stopped loving, then He would be changeable. Yet God remains calm and unperturbed by anything. When I contemplated why God permits Himself to be put through intolerable difficulties, I realized that He had to endure them in order to secure His unchangeability. Satan and God are completely opposite. God is eternal, while Satan is transient; God is unchanging, while Satan is ever changing; God is unique, while Satan is not. There is a clear contrast between the characteristics of God and Satan. Is your mind changing or unchanging? An unchanging mind is closer to God. You prefer to be unchanging, not changing, to be absolute, not relative, because you want to take after God’s character. You would resemble God because you wish to be His object partner. God is unchanging, eternal, unique and absolute, but for what end? If God possessed these attributes purely for His own sake, they would have no meaning. These attributes are for the sake of His object partners. Likewise, we seek to be unchanging and absolute for the sake of our counterpart, not for ourselves. Therefore, no matter how many people in the world oppose God, He must endure in silence. Evil people swear, accuse and lash out at God, but He just takes it all in and remains silent. All people are meant to make the journey to true love. Therefore, even evil people seek to become absolute, unique, eternal and unchanging. Were we solitary beings, what difference would it make if we were changing or unchanging? When we say we want to be unchanging, we automatically have a relationship in mind. Because of the unchanging relationship between God and human beings, love can be possible. And love—true love—is eternal. (123:330-32, January 9, 1983)

All the ideologies, doctrines and rights that people hold— all these will disappear. But Father, we yearn that Thou dost put in our minds power ever flowing and ever bursting forth, the Eye of resurrection, that our minds and bodies may rise to the place where we can live eternally. (4:65, March 9, 1958)

The Four Position Foundation Is God’s Eternal Purpose of Creation

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Romans 4

4 Money paid to workers isn’t a gift. It is something they earn by working. 5 But you cannot make God accept you because of something you do. God accepts sinners only because they have faith in him. 6 In the Scriptures David talks about the blessings that come to people who are acceptable to God, even though they don’t do anything to deserve these blessings. David says,

7 “God blesses people
    whose sins are forgiven
and whose evil deeds
    are forgotten.
8 The Lord blesses people
whose sins are erased
    from his book.”

Isaiah 1

15 “No matter how much you pray,
I won’t listen.
    You are too violent.
16 Wash yourselves clean!
I am disgusted
    with your filthy deeds.
Stop doing wrong
17     and learn to live right.
See that justice is done.
Defend widows and orphans
    and help those in need.”

Exposition of the Divine Principle
3 Color Edition-The Red part

The Principle of Creation

1.2 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GOD AND THE UNIVERSE

In light of our understanding of the dual characteristics, the relationship between God and the universe can be summarized thus: The
universe as a whole is a substantial object partner to God. It is composed of individual embodiments of truth, each a unique manifestation
of the dual characteristics of God at either the level of image or of symbol, as governed by the Principle of Creation.

UNIVERSAL PRIME ENERGY, GIVE AND TAKE ACTION,
AND THE FOUR POSITION FOUNDATION

2.1 UNIVERSAL PRIME ENERGY
God, the Creator of all things, is the absolute reality, eternal, self-existent and transcendent of time and space. The fundamental energy
of God’s being is also eternal, self-existent and absolute. It is the origin of all energies and forces that allow created beings to exist. We call
this fundamental energy universal prime energy.

2.2 GIVE AND TAKE ACTION
Through the agency of universal prime energy, the subject and
object elements of every entity form a common base and enter into
interaction. This interaction, in turn, generates all the forces the entity
needs for existence, multiplication and action. The interaction generating these forces through this process is called give and take action.
2.3 THE FOUR POSITION FOUNDATION WHICH REALIZES THE THREE
OBJECT PURPOSE THROUGH ORIGIN-DIVISION-UNION ACTION

2.3.1 ORIGIN-DIVISION-UNION ACTION
The process of God’s creation in which out of God, the Origin, two entities are separately manifested
and reunited in oneness—is called origin-division-union action.
2.3.2 THE THREE OBJECT PURPOSE
As a result of origin-division-union action, four positions are formed:
the origin at the center, the subject partner and the object partner (distinct substantial object partners to the origin in the pattern of its dual
characteristics), and their union. Any one of the four positions may
assume the position of subject partner and engage the other three as
its object partners, forming a communion of three object partners. When
each of the four then acts as the subject partner and enters into give
and take with the other three revolving around it, they fulfill the three
object purpose.
2.3.3 THE FOUR POSITION FOUNDATION
When through origin-division-union action, the origin, the subject
partner and object partner projected from the origin, and their union all
fulfill the three object purpose, the four position foundation is established.
The original significance of the number four derives from the fourposition foundation. The original significance of the number three also
derives from it, because it is the fulfillment of the three-object purpose.
The four position foundation is realized by God, husband and wife, and
children; they complete the three stages of origin-division-union action.
Hence, the four position foundation is the root of the principle of three
stages. Furthermore, each of the four positions in the four position
foundation takes on three object partners in fulfilling the three object
purpose. In total there are twelve object partners; hence, from it derives
the original significance of the number twelve. The four position foundation is the fundamental foundation of goodness. It is the realization
of God’s purpose of creation. It is the fundamental foundation for the
life of all beings, providing all the forces necessary for their existence
and enabling God to abide in them. Therefore, the four position foundation is God’s eternal purpose of creation.

View slides 26 -50 below for an illustrated slide show of the content above.

2007p1-CHAPT-1-Creation_revised-4-28-2014-red-part