Reward of unrighteousness

• "Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam [the son] of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;" 2 Peter 2:15

The phrase "wages of unrighteousness" from the Greek misthos adikia (μισθός ἀδικία) only appears once in the Bible. But in the Greek text we also see in 2 Peter 2:13 the phrase "reward of unrighteousness" which is also from misthos adikia.

• "And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, [as] they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots [they are] and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;" 2 Peter 2:13

So who are these people who have spots and blemishes and how is it that they are deceiving themselves?

• 2 Peter 2:14 "Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:

Most of the use of the word adultery in the Bible is referring to national adultery. Even the definition of the Greek word moichalis (μοιχαλίς) includes the idea that "as the intimate alliance of God with the people of Israel was likened to a marriage, those who relapse into idolatry are said to commit adultery or play the harlot 2a) fig. equiv. to faithless to God, unclean, apostate".

Since our rights are endowed by God to bring our right to choose or exercise those rights into the power of others would express a contempt for those rights and therefore God himself. People who make covenants with men allowing an infringement upon their natural rights in exchange for rewards or wages or benefits are adulterating their relationship with God. Empowering governments to regulate what was once a individual right would be establishing a relationship with those governments that should remain exclusive to God. That is national adultery.

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There are two forces operating in governments.

1. To secure the safety of the people there is a granting of power by the people to one form of government;

2. And there is an imposition of limitations to guarantee the safety of the people from government.

The balance of these elements in the world of government design defines the difference between freedom and despotism. Those who seek power will commonly make a promise of liberty but proceed to create offices of power and take control to obtain that end. This temptation of one man ruling over another has come down to us in the fallen nature of man from Cain to Caesar.

People are fond of attributing the United States’ success, prominence, and power to its constitution. There are many factors that compose our past and present and the constitution and the institutions it created and continues to create are only one part of that social equation.

It is not the constitution, the president, congress or the judiciary that can make or has made America great. Not disregarding the unspoiled natural resources of the land itself, it is the people that have made this nation great. It is also the people who will destroy it.

What made the American people great?

Even Abraham Lincoln admitted “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”

Romans were a great but something changed and then came the first Caesar 500 years after the creation of the republic. Caesar not only promised peace and security in his Pax Romana but free bread. Polybius had warned centuries before that "The masses continue with an appetite for benefits ... having grown accustomed to feed at the expense of others ... institute the rule of violence;... until they degenerate again into perfect savages and find once more a master and monarch."

Jesus Christ, John the Baptist and the prophets warned how such covetous practices would alter the people and entangle them again in the yoke of bondage. If you think it is okay to force your neighbor to contribute to your benefit or the benefit of society you have need of repentance. Real Christians should despise the idea of applying force even through democratic governments just because you desire security or personal benefit for you or anyone in society.

But doesn't the Bible say something about not despising government?

• ”But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous [are they], selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.” 2 Peter 2:10

An in-depth study of the Second Epistle of Peter clearly shows that the word translated “government” does not actually mean “government” of the world but personal dominion or rights. This is a common theme in the Bible.

The Kingdom of God is from generation to generation. It includes those God given rights that we are endowed with by God. Men have often waived those rights in order to obtain those benefits men who call themselves benefactors of the people. We see that in Genesis 25:34 where Esau “despised his birthright” and sold it for “free bread” and red pottage which is why God hated Esau. God also hates the deeds of the Nicolaitan who like the “error of Balaam” is a reference to the people who are conquered by their own lust for the wages of unrighteousness.

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You should know that the modern Church is in apostasy because it no longer takes care of a daily ministration in what James calls pure religion. The modern Church sends most of its congregation to the Fathers of the earth and those who call themselves Benefactors but actually just exercise authority one over the other to provide the wages of unrighteousness through their covetous practices which makes them merchandise and curse children with debt through their systems of state sponsored Corban.

The word sporting is from the Greek word entruphao (ἐντρυφάω) which appears in different forms in:

• 2 Peter 2:13 "pleasure to riot"
• James 5:5 "Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth".
• 2 Peter 2:13 "sporting themselves"
• Luke 7:25 "live delicately, are in kings’ courts."

The same Greek phrase "reward of unrighteousness" is also seen in Acts 1:18 where we see this phrase as "reward of iniquity".

• Acts 1:18 "Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out."

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What are the wages of righteousness?

Matthew 10:41 He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.

And in the Old Testament there are many references to these rewards or gifts that bring judgment.

Deuteronomy 27:25 Cursed [be] he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Psalms 15:5 He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.

Proverbs 15:27 ¶ He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; but he that hateth gifts shall live.

Proverbs 19:6 ¶ Many will intreat the favour of the prince: and every man [is] a friend to him that giveth gifts. 7 All the brethren of the poor do hate him: how much more do his friends go far from him? he pursueth them with words, yet they are wanting to him. 8 ¶ He that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul: he that keepeth understanding shall find good. 9 ¶ A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish.

Proverbs 29:1 ¶ He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. 2 ¶ When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn. 3 ¶ Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father: but he that keepeth company with harlots spendeth his substance. 4 ¶ The king by judgment establisheth the land: but he that receiveth gifts overthroweth it. 5 ¶ A man that flattereth his neighbour spreadeth a net for his feet. 6 ¶ In the transgression of an evil man there is a snare: but the righteous doth sing and rejoice. 7 ¶ The righteous considereth the cause of the poor: but the wicked regardeth not to know it.

Isaiah 1:23 Thy princes [are] rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.

Isaiah 3:11 Woe unto the wicked! [it shall be] ill [with him]: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.

Ezekiel 20:26 And I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the LORD.

Ezekiel 20:31 For when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass through the fire, ye pollute yourselves with all your idols, even unto this day: and shall I be enquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will not be enquired of by you.

Ezekiel 20:39 As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord GOD; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me: but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols.

Ezekiel 22:12 In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD.

Obadiah 1:15 For the day of the LORD [is] near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.

Micah 3:10 They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. 11 The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us. 12 Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest. 1 ¶ But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.

Capitalism works best in a society where people love their neighbor as themselves, where the State is superfluous because the power of the State remains in the hands of the individual as God intended. The individual, as a natural inhabitant, can only remain free in a state of nature as long as he remains virtuous. Capitalism does not dictate virtue. Greed or charity remain a choice in a free society. Socialism always brings an end to virtue with the empowerment of the State because it is the stumblingblock of Balaam.
“If Virtue & Knowledge are diffused among the People, they will never be enslaved. This will be their great Security” In a republic of noble and virtuous souls there are few affairs of the people that are not taken care of by the people for the people.

Beware of gifts

"Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?" Isaiah 40:21

There are gifts of God and man.

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Plutarch said “The real destroyers of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations and benefits.”

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But Proverbs 19:6 tells us the same thing, "Many will intreat the favour of the prince: and every man [is] a friend to him that giveth gifts."

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Polybius said "The masses continue with an appetite for benefits and the habit of receiving them by way of a rule of force and violence. The people, having grown accustomed to feed at the expense of others and to depend for their livelihood on the property of others... institute the rule of violence; and now uniting their forces massacre, banish, and plunder, until they degenerate again into perfect savages and find once more a master and monarch."

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This rule of violence and plunder is the same we hear about in Matthew 11:12 "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force." and in Luke 16:16 "The law and the prophets [were] until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it." The Repentance associated with the act of Baptism was turning away from these Covetous systems of the Welfare of the World and going back to The Way of Fervent Charity with the Eucharist of Christ.

"He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; but he that hateth gifts shall live." Proverbs 15:27

The wages of unrighteousness offered by men brings the rights and liberty of man given by God to nothing and their right to judge to confusion.

The gifts of God which set men free come to those who will walk the Way of God.

The Paul the Apostle wrote to a number of Early Christian communities in Galatia, "For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another." Galatians 5:13-15

When Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 8:9 "But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak." the word "liberty" is the same word exousia Paul uses in Romans 13.

The same word we see as power in Romans 13 is translated right in Hebrews 13:10 and Revelation 22:14. and also in Revelation 18 concerning the fall of Babylon and the merchants of the earth who are the merchants of men who together with the kings of the earth have committed fornication. Rulers of the world of men not only have sought to take man's endowed dominion from him but have conspired to make all men take the Mark of the Beast which is a badge of servitude that makes them merchandise.

Have we lost that liberty granted by God by neglecting our natural and moral responsibility that is correlative to those God given rights?

Eyes full of adultery

Peter made it clear in 2 Peter 2:3, "And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not."

Peter not only warned us that desiring benefits at the expense of others would make us human resources what he calls merchandise but he warned us in 2 Peter 2:14 about those covetous practices entangling them back in the yoke of bondage and cursing our children:

"Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:" 2 Peter 2:14

He tells us that the debt of those Divers lust for the benefits of the world at the expense of others would curse our children.

David warned us in Psalms 69:22, "Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap."

And Paul reminded us again in Romans 11:9 that "... David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them:"

This stumblingblock was that we would learn to eat at tables set with the bounty of the compelled sacrifices of institutions made by men who called themselves Benefactors that ruled over the people with and exercising authority and is explained in Revelation 2:14 "But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication."

Proverbs 23 warns us about the table of men who exercise authority one over the other "When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what [is] before thee: And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat."

If the ruler is your Benefactor he will only give you what he takes from others. To desire the Benefits is to Covet and that will change.

What are these benefits today?

Those benefits include everything from Public Schools to Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards which is an electronic system that allows state welfare departments to issue benefits via a magnetically encoded payment card, used in the United States and the United Kingdom like Rome did with their Tesserae of the Beast of Revelation?

Warned

We were told by God in Exodus 20:17 "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s."

Jesus warned us of the evil of covetousness and where it comes from in Mark 7:20-23, "...That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man."

These are the things he called us to repent of in Matthew 4:17 when he first "... began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." and in Mark 1:15 when He said "... The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." but warned us in Luke 13:3 that "... except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."

He warned the ministers that systems of Corban like the one they created for their social welfare made the word of God to none effect.

Jesus told us not to look to Benefactors who exercise authority one over the other.

He told us not to pray to Fathers of the earth, but only our Father who is in Heaven.

He told us to keep the commandments including the one about not coveting anything that is our neighbors if we want Eternal life. And when 1 John 2 talked about the "propitiation for our sins", he reminded us that "... hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked."

Real Christians would not desire the benefits of men who call themselves Benefactors nor pray to the Fathers of the earth like Modern Christians do. They would be led to gather together in a living Network that provided a Daily ministration of Charity for one another according to the Perfect law of liberty. They would strive to keep His commandments by being Doers of His word in a Living Network of Love.

Israel in the Bondage of Egypt were literally employed by the Pharaoh who provided free bread like the Romans in the form of Public Welfare which was Public religion. They had to pay their tale of bricks to the Pharaoh but learn to glean in the field at night to obtain their benefits. This is why God hardened the heart of the Pharaoh during the plagues so they could learn The Way of God. So it was not enough to stop taking the benefits, but they needed to learn to provide them by faith, hope and charity through a system of Corban that made the word of God to effect.

Jesus said nothing different to the early Church. When he said give to Caesar what is Caesar and to God what is God's he was saying pay your tale of bricks. He even warned to be friends with the unrighteous Mammon explaining that it would fail. Those who cheat one master you will likely cheat the next.

We are in bondage because of Covetous Practices and Slothfulness. We are devoured because we or our natural parents took bites out of one another in these Covetous Practices which made us a Surety for debt in an unrighteous Mammon... We must Repent and seek the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness.

Where and what is true Christian fellowship?

Where and what is the true Eucharist of Christ?

Where and what is the Living Network of the faithful?

Where and what is the Communion of Saints?

Where and how do the people practice Pure Religion?

Where and who are the people that attend to the Weightier matters?