What you probably won’t hear in your church…

The Revelation of the Mystery given to the Apostle Paul, which is to be found from Romans to Philemon.
The Gospel of Grace (we are saved by faith alone + nothing – nothing).
That we are currently living in the Dispensation of God’s Grace.
That we must follow the Apostle Paul, he is our pattern.
That there is only one Baptism (not with water, but with the Spirit).
We are permanently sealed with the Holy Spirit until our day of redemption.
Our salvation is eternally secure.
The Lord Jesus Christ preached according to the Revelation of the Mystery given to the Apostle Paul.

What great love!
What great mercy!
What great kindness!
WHAT A GREAT SAVIOUR WE HAVE!!
We don’t have to do anything to be saved, other than trust in Him, that we are in need of a Saviour and that He is our Saviour and that He died, was buried and resurrected on the 3rd day. He did it all.

When denominationalism tells you your salvation requires works in order for you to be saved – they’re reading Israel’s mail. Israel’s salvation is conditional and they have to endure to the end in order to be saved.

Selah.

How do I deal with Sin?

How to Deal With Sin as a Christian

While we believers tarry in this wicked world for the glorious appearing of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, we are on a mission. The Lord has given us instructions to preach the Gospel of Grace, and to bring glory and honor to our Savior’s name in all that we do and say. We need to be cautious, for we are “ambassadors for [the risen] Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20). We Christians need to be reminded that our lives are on parade for the lost world to see, everyday: indeed, we are AMBASSADORS, reflecting our Homeland, the Heavenlies where Christ is!

Romans 6:6-13 KJV reads: “6 Knowing this, that our old man [old sin nature] is crucified with Him [Christ], that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7 For he that is dead is freed from sin. 8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him: 9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over Him. 10 For in that He died, He died unto sin once: but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God. 11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.”

Now, according to the verses above, you as a believer have the choice of living righteously, or living carnally. Yes, committing sin is fun, but you will be misrepresenting the Lord and bringing shame to His name. As the Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:30, you would “grieve the Holy Spirit,” and make Him sad. Our sin nature is warring against our new nature in Christ; our sinful spirit is contrary to the indwelling Holy Spirit (see Galatians 5:16-26).

God would prefer us not to sin, but He knows that we still sin even after salvation. Sin is going to creep into our lives, and in order to deal with sin, we need to first identify what sin is. If you have a hard time distinguishing between what is and what is not a sin (like most of our world), think of it like this: a sin is anything that is willful disobedience to God, which brings reproach and dishonor to Him. Would God approve of the action? If not, it is a sin.

While it is necessary to interact with lost people on a daily basis, we need to make every effort to be around God’s people (the believers) more often than around everyone else. Keeping company with the lost world for extended periods of time will eventually lead to your living a worldly lifestyle (1 Corinthians 15:33-34).

As soon as we recognize sin in our lives, we need to address it, and straighten up. If we continue to ignore that sin, it will eventually mushroom into something great, and then we begin to backslide (start to live a life of complete carnality, or gutter living). The devil begins to rob you of your testimony. I have seen it, and it is quite sad: professing Christians living no different (sometimes worse) than the lost. But, we as believers have the power of the Holy Spirit to help us overcome our shortcomings, as long as we are willing to submit to God (Galatians 2:20-21).

On the basis of Romans 4:7-8 and Ephesians 4:32, we Christians are already forgiven for Christ’s sake, so do not ask for forgiveness for your sins; God has already dealt with our eternal consequence of sin at Calvary, but we still have to deal with our daily sins. Genuine Christians are never in danger of eternal Hellfire; however, Satan can still tempt us and cause us to stumble in our Christian walk. Yes, even after salvation, we sin! So, in the Dispensation of Grace, what do we do when we stumble in sin?

A believer will feel repentance (change in thinking) once they sin. Then, they feel conviction—this is a positive sign that the Holy Spirit is indwelling you! Tell God you are sorry where you have made Him sad, and try to learn from your mistakes, but do not live a life of continual regret: “oh, if I only I did this…if only I did not do that.” Feeling like that will not solve anything; you need to look forward to the future, how you make the most of the future. I feel it important to mention—GRACE AND FORGIVENESS ARE NOT LICENSES TO SIN!

Lastly, it is important to make these additional comments. If you are a Christian, saved by grace through faith plus nothing, your body is a “temple of the Holy Spirit,” so please do not desecrate that temple by disrespecting your body (1 Corinthians 6:18-20). Memorize Scripture verses; so that you can defend yourself when the devil entices you with sin. When you stumble in sin as a Christian, God will be there to help you, and He forgives you.

When we live a life according to the directions God gave us through Paul, we have no room for boasting. Everything Jesus Christ has done for us should constrain (compel) us to represent Him in all that we do and bring Him all the glory and praise that He rightly deserves (1 Corinthians 10:31; 2 Corinthians 5:14, 20). Remember, 1 Corinthians 6:20 tells us that we Christians have been “bought with a price,” and it cost Jesus Christ everything He had… as a Christian, never forget that you are still serving the risen Lord, so make Him proud. He has never let you down, so why do you want to let Him down?

http://am1490.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=sin&action=display&thread=88&page=1

Religion vs SoundDoctrine

Religion tells you to accept Christ.
Sound doctrine says you are accepted in Christ. (Ephesians 1:6)

Religion tells you to seek God’s will.
Sound doctrine says God has already revealed His will to you. (Ephesians 1:9-10).

Religion tells you to invite Jesus into your heart.
Sound doctrine says that Christ may live in your heart by faith, but He doesn not get there by invitation, only by your belief of the gospel. (Ephesians 3:14-17).

Religion tells you, you can only get forgiveness each time you confess your sins.
Sound doctrine says God has already forgiven your sins. (Ephesians 1:7).

Religion tells you God won’t forgive you if you hold a grudge.
Sound doctrine says you are able to forgive others if you choose, and should, because God has already forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:32).

Religion tells you Jesus is your shepherd and that you are his sheep.
Sound doctrine says He is your Saviour and you are his Saint. (2 Timolthy 1:10).

Religion tells you to join their church or denomination and become a member, which is normally done by water baptism. And if you don’t attend they say you are “backslidden”, otherwise known as “losing your salvation”.
Sound doctrine says you don’t go to church, you are the church, you are the Body of Christ, members of His body. (1 Corinthians 12:27).

Religion tells you to keep the 10 commandments.
Sound doctrine says you cannot keep the commandment 100%. (James 2:10). We are not under the law, we are dead to the law. (Romans 6:14, Romans 10:4, Romans 7:4, Romans 7:6).

Religion tells you to make Jesus Lord.
Sound doctrine says God already made Jesus Lord. (Acts 2:36).

Religion tells you to carry your cross.
Sound doctrine says you need only carry your sword and shield. (Ephesians 6:11-18). We don’t have a cross.

Religion tells you to follow Jesus.
Sound doctrine says that Jesus told us to follow the Apostle Paul. (1 Corinthians 4:16).

Religions tells you “WWJD”?
Sound doctrine says we are not concerned about what Jesus would do, but rather what He did for us on the Cross. (2 Corinthians 5:16)

Religion tells you that Jesus is your example and that you should follow in His footsteps.
Sound doctrine says the Apostle Paul is our pattern. (1 Timothy 1:16).

Religions tells you to “Go ye” under the Great Commission.
Sound doctrine says the commission to you given by God is to be found in 2 Corinthians 5:18-19.

Religion tells you to be fishers of men.
Sound doctrine says you’re an Ambassador for Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:20).

Religion tells you are in the New Testament.
Sound doctrine says that the New Testament was for Israel. (Jeremiah 31:31).

Religion tells you to follow the four synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Sound doctrine says that these belong to the Old Testament and that the New Testament couldn’t have begun until after Jesus died. (Hebrews 9:15-18, Galatians 4:4).

Religion also tells you to follow the Epistles of Hebrews, James, Peter, Jude, John, which are actually the New Testament.
Sound doctrine says James, Peter, John were ministers of the circumcision (Israel). (Galatians 2:9). The Book of Hebrews was written for the Hebrews, and if you try to follow it, you will run into doctinal trouble. (Hebrews 10:26-27).

The Book of James was written to Israel. (James 1:1).
Peter also wrote to Israel in their diaspora. (1 Peter 1:1).

Religion tells you not to work on the Lord’s Day – Sunday.
Sound doctrine says the Lord’s Day is what Revelation is about. (Revelation 1:9-10).

Religion tells you that God changed the Sabbath to Sunday.
Sound doctrine says that certain days don’t make any difference in the here and now. (Colossians 2:16). The Sabbath, which means seven, was given to Israel to keep, not the Body of Christ.

Religion tells you to follow Jesus and be baptised by water.
Sound doctrine says we are given righteousness by faith, not by being baptised in water. (Romans 3:22).

Religion tells you that baptism is the first step in obedience in salvation.
Sound doctrine says that water baptism was for Israel. (Mark 1:4, Mark 16:16)).

Religion tells you that God speaks to you through circumstances.
Sound doctrine says God’s words are written in a Book which is known as the Bible and it’s complete. (Colossians 1:25-26).

Pastor or Bishop?

Pastor: A shepherd, herdsman, overseer of a flock of sheep. (Israel).
Bishop: An overseer. (Body of Christ).

“To all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons” Philippians 1:1b

“A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach” 1 Timothy 3:2

“Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.” 1 Timothy 3:6

“For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre” Titus 1:7

NO Sheep/Flock = No Pastors/Shepherds

Rapture or Wrath?

Proving Premillennialism.

There is confusion today about when the Church will be raptured, in relation to the time called the Great Tribulation. Will it leave before the Tribulation begins, during the middle, or at the end? Now the Church is the body of Christ and is composed of saved, born again, people: those who have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. Will those people have to go through even a part of the Tribulation? What different denominations teach is irrelevant to what God says. The Bible will have the answer.

The next 1,000 years, or so, is clearly outlined in Bible prophecy. The Lord Jesus Christ will return to earth (the Second Advent) and wage war according to Revelation 19:11-21. After that he will reign 1000 years (Revelation 20:4-6). Christ comes back just before the Millennium (1000 years in Latin). The Bible gives several names to the seven years before the Millennium begins. It is called the Tribulation, the time of “Jacob’s Trouble,” and Daniel’s Seventieth Week. This seven years is the last phase of a prophecy spoken of in Daniel.

Daniel 9:24,25,26a
Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and uponthe holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an endof sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision andprophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forthof the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore andtwo weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
26a And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cutoff, but not for himself…

According to these verses there are 69 weeks before Messiah is cut off (seven weeks + threescore and two weeks). A “week” in this case means seven years just as it did in Genesis 29:27, where Jacob had to serve seven years for Rachel. The fulfilling of this prophecy began in Nehemiah 2 in 450 B.C. and the first sixty-nine weeks did not end until Jesus Christ, the Messiah, was crucified, or “cut off,” in 33 A.D. That totals 483 years. (If the beginning calendar date, e.g. 450 B.C., is off by a few years, the date of the crucifixion would also be off by the same amount of years. The time between the dates would still be 483 years.) The remaining “week”, of seven years, will be fulfilled during the Tribulation, the time of “Jacob’s Trouble,” not the Church’s trouble. Jesus, himself, tells what this time will be like.

Matthew 24:21
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

Verses 29-31 tell of Christ’s coming in the clouds after the Tribulation to gather his elect, both the living and the dead. As with the rapture of the Church, the dead will be resurrected and the living will be changed. These will include the 144,000 who were redeemed from the earth during this time (Revelation 14:1-5) and their converts. After this comes a judgment in Matthew 24:42-51. This same judgment is mentioned in Revelation 20:1-4.

Matthew 24:46,47
Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shallfind so doing. 47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.

Revelation 20:4
And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment wasgiven unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

The Tribulation saints will be raptured just before the Lord comes back for the battle of Armageddon. After which the lost will be appointed their portion (Matthew 24:51) and Satan shall be bound for 1000 years. (Revelation 20:2)

The rapture of the body of Christ takes place before this period of Tribulation. Jesus’ bride is waiting for him, not for the wrath of the Tribulation.

I Thessalonians 1:9,10
For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; 10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

These verses say that Christians are to be waiting for Jesus and that he has delivered them from the wrath to come. The following verses further verify this.

Matthew 3:7b
…O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

In this verse John rebuked the Jewish Pharisees and implied that if they had believed that Messiah was coming and had been baptized (and thus later received him as Saviour) that they would be fleeing the “wrath” that was to fall on the nation of Israel.

These next two verses tells the Church Age saints that they will not see God’s wrath on Israel.

Romans 5:9
Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

I Thessalonians 5:9
For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.

This last verse records the plea of one experiencing God’s wrath during the Tribulation.

Revelation 6:16,17
…Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

The Church, Christ’s body, has not been appointed to wrath. It will be raptured before the Tribulation begins. Two passages describe this.

I Thessalonians 4:16,17
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

I Corinthians 15:51,52
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

The bodies of living and dead Christian’s will be redeemed at this time, since the soul and spirit are redeemed at the time of salvation. According to Romans 8:11-23, at the rapture, the Spirit will quicken the mortal bodies of living saints. This is called the adoption, or the redemption of the body. And, of course, dead saints will be resurrected. All our bodies will be glorified and raptured to heaven!

We will not receive the wrath of the Lamb because we are going to be with him in heaven. We will not receive the wrath of Satan (Revelation 12:12) because we have already overcome him according of I John 3:2-10. We will not come under the wrath of God because according to Isaiah 53, it fell on Jesus Christ when he took our place at Calvary. THEREFORE we are NOT appointed to wrath, or Tribulation, but to salvation, or Rapture!

Also, if Christians go through the Tribulation, when do they appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ mentioned in II Corinthians 5:10? This judgment takes place before the Great White Throne judgment in Revelation 20:11-15, which takes place after the Millennium. The Church has already been judged before the Marriage Supper in Revelation 19:7-9, where the saints are arrayed in white linen. This is their righteousness. When Jesus Christ comes back in verse 11 they come with him as the armies of heaven in verse 14. The Church comes out of heaven with him, so they must have been taken up earlier. In I Thessalonians 4 Jesus comes back for the saints, and in Revelation 19 he comes back with the saints.

The chronology of the book of Revelation also shows that the Church must go out before the Tribulation. Revelation 2 and 3 devotionally speak of characteristics of the Church Age. The seven churches picture seven epochs in Church Age history from 33 A.D. to the Tribulation. In Revelation 4:1 a door in heaven opens and John, the beloved apostle, a type of the Church, is taken up to heaven. The word “church” does not appear again. Revelation chapters 5-19 concern the Tribulation. Then in Revelation 19, heaven opens again and the Lord Jesus Christ comes down with his saints. The Church goes out before the Tribulation and comes back after it is finished.

Also, the Tribulation is Daniel’s Seventieth week, and is determined on Israel, not the Church.

Daniel 9:24
Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people…

Daniel’s people were Jews, not Gentile churches. God will not be dealing with the Church during the Tribulation, just as be did not deal with it during the Old Testament. God began dealing with the Church after Israel had rejected the Messiah and had been taken out of the way. When God begins to deal with them again he will take the Church out of the way.

Besides that, if the Church was going to go through the Tribulation we would be looking for the abomination of desolation spoken of in Matthew.

Matthew 24:15a,21a
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by the prophet Daniel…21 For then shall be great tribulation…

According to Paul we are to look for something different.

Philippians 3:20,21a
For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body…

We are not looking for the Antichrist or for the Jew to rebuild the temple.

Titus 2:13
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Finally, Enoch is a type of the translated Church, and he was taken up to heaven before the flood, which is a type of the Great Tribulation. Noah is a type of believing Israel that will be sealed according to Revelation 7 and taken through the Tribulation protected by God’s power. Concerning Enoch the Bible says:

Hebrews 11:5
By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

The word “translation” is mentioned three times. According to I Corinthians 15:21-24 there are three parts to the First Resurrection.”Christ the firstfruits” include Old Testament saints who arose at the time of Christ’s resurrection and appeared in Jerusalem according to Matthew 27:51-53. They are also mentioned in Ephesians 4:8-10.”They that are Christ’s at his coming” is the rapture of the Church Age saints mentioned in I Thessalonians 4.”Then cometh the end” speaks of the Tribulation saints raptured in Revelation 7:9-14. More on this shortly.

One attempt to refute the Pre-Tribulation Rapture is to teach that the trumpet of the seventh angel in Revelation 11:15, at the Second Coming of Christ, is the same as the “trump of God” in I Corinthians 15:51. The trumpets are not the same because one is an angel’s trumpet and the other is the trump of God. In Joshua 6 there is a type of these seven trumpets in the story of Jericho, the accursed city. Babylon is that accursed city in the Tribulation not the Church Age. Joshua’s conquering Jericho is a type of the taking of Babylon in the Tribulation. Joshua’s people and seven priests with seven trumpets march around the city seven times on the seventh day and then blow the seven trumpets and shout. The walls fall flat.

The last trump in I Corinthians 15:52 also has a type in the Old Testament. Notice that it is the last trump, not the seventh. It is the last of two trumps. In Numbers 10 God tells Moses to make and use two trumpets.

Numbers 10:1,2
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps.

Silver is a picture of redemption (Matthew 27); and the trumpets were blown for the assembly, then the journeying. The first trumpet will be blown in the Rapture for the assembling of the Church and the second for the calling out. For a conclusion we’ll look again at the three parts of the first resurrection.

I Corinthians 15:22-24a
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
24 Then cometh the end…

The first part took place when Jesus Christ brought up the Old Testament saints at his resurrection.

Matthew 27:52,53
And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

Ephesians 4:8
Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.

This happened at the time of the Passover.

The second part takes place at the rapture of the Church (I Thessalonians 4 and I Corinthians 15) and will coincide with the feast of Pentecost. The third part will occur at the end of the Tribulation, at the feast of Tabernacles spoken of in Zechariah 14:18,19 and will include the Tribulation saints in Revelation 20:4,5. This first resurrection of the righteous does not include anyone who is lost and facing the second death (being thrown into the lake of fire). Jesus tells the Sadducees of this in Matthew 22:30-32 after they try to trick him concerning the resurrection.

Matthew 22:30-32

For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.
31 But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying,
32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

All three parts of the first resurrection will be of the “living” (spiritually alive or saved) only. There is a type of this in Deuteronomy 16:16.

Deuteronomy 16:16
Three times in a year shall all the males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread {Passover – the firstfruits}, and in the feast of weeks {Pentecost – harvest of the Church}, and in the feast of tabernacles…{gleanings of Tribulation saints}

These feasts were scheduled according to the times of harvest in Israel, just as God will harvest the earth in the first resurrection. Every harvest has three crops: The firstfruits; (that ripen early, before the main harvest), then the main harvest; and then the gleanings (that ripen later). So is the first resurrection!

The resurrection of the lost dead (those who will suffer the second death) takes place in Revelation 20:11-13:

Revelation 20:11-12
And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

This resurrection occurs at the end of the Millennium, 1000 years after the last part of the first resurrection of the righteous – the gleanings of the Tribulation saints.

Heretical teachings about the Rapture affect the believer in the same way as other heresies. These false teachers try to rob the Christian of several things: their peace and security, by teaching that they can lose their salvation; their hope, by teaching that they will go through the Tribulation; their Saviour, by denying the deity of Christ; and their authority, by trying to destroy the infallibility of the King James Bible. Knowing and believing the truth will give a Christian peace and assurance.

Parts of this booklet were taken from an uncopywrited tract called:

“TRANSLATION OR TRIBULATION” by:
Dr. Greg Estep

Understanding Tribulation Salvation

Written by D. J. Root
AV1611Root@juno.com

One of the great commandments of the Bible is found in II Timothy.

II Timothy 2:15
Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Although it is a commandment, it is for the most part either ignored or misunderstood. God commands us to divide his word. Disobedience to that command is the cause of almost all doctrinal differences between Christians. Misunderstanding, confusion, and heresy are the result of an undivided Bible. For instance, the Bible says that you shouldn’t eat pork or shellfish in Leviticus 11. Yet I Timothy 4:1-5 says you can eat anything. Either the Bible is contradicting itself or there is a division somewhere that must be observed. This example is an obvious one, however, and the division between the Old Testament and the New Testament is easily recognizable and accepted. There are also divisions within the Old Testament. The most obvious two are before the Law and after the Law. Noah could eat anything (Genesis 9:3), but Israel could not (Leviticus 11). Abraham and Sarah married with the Lord’s blessing even though they had the same father (Genesis 20:12), while the Israelites were forbidden to marry close kin (Leviticus 18:6). God never changes, but he does change his rules and regulations in his dealings with different people at different times. That is why he commands us to “rightly divide!” If we don’t, then there are contradictions in his instructions!

A most common misconception is that all the New Testament automatically applies doctrinally to the Church. But it is in that very New Testament that a Christian is commanded to “rightly divide!” The New Testament has divisions. If they aren’t observed there will be apparent contradictions.

The Bible says that the New Testament didn’t come into effect until Christ died (Hebrews 9:15-17). Doctrinally speaking the four gospels before Jesus death are still dealing with Jews under Mosaic Law. Jesus himself is a pork abstaining, Sabbath keeping, orthodox Jew. Abraham is chosen to be the Father of the Hebrews in the book of Genesis. In Exodus the Jews are organized, and God claims them as his chosen nation. The entire rest of the Old Testament deals with the nation of Israel. As Matthew begins it is obvious that God is still dealing with them.

Acts 3:25a,26
Ye are the children of the prophets…26 Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, having sent him to bless you.

Acts 5:31
Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.

Paul corroborates that Jesus’ ministry is to Israel.

Romans 15:8
Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm to promises made unto the fathers.

Of himself Jesus said:

Matthew 15:24b
…I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Jesus commanded his disciples to go to Israel only!

Matthew 10:5b,6
…Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Jesus prophesied that Israel would lose its standing.

Matthew 21:43
Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.

This is temporary, according to the Bible, and in the future Israel will become God’s blessed nation again.

Romans 11:25,26
For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that the blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. 26 And so all Israel shall be saved.

The coming of the Messiah is the fulfilling of Old Testament Jewish prophecy. (Matthew 5:17,18) All through the Old Testament the Jews are waiting for their King to come, sit down on the throne of David, and set up his kingdom. John the Baptist preached that the “kingdom is at hand.” Jesus preached the “gospel of the kingdom.” (Matthew 4:23; 9:35; 24:14) Simple reading shows that this is not the gospel of I Corinthians 15:1-4. The gospel Jesus preached is the Old Testament kingdom gospel that he preached to Jews. Paul’s gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord that should be preached to everyone.

These verses show three distinct time periods or divisions. The first is a continuation of the Old Testament where God is dealing with the nation of Israel. The second begins when God temporarily displaces Israel with the Gentile Church Age. The third is the future time when God deals with his chosen nation, Israel, again.

There are differences in the Lord’s instructions in these periods,

and they are contradictory unless the Bible’s divisions are recognized. Study these examples.

Mark 2:5
When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.

James 5:14,15
Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: 15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

VERSUS

II Corinthians 12:9b
…Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities…

I Timothy 5:23b
…Use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.

II Timothy 4:20b
…Trophimus have I left at Miletem sick.

When the Lord healed that man with palsy he first forgave his sins because of the faith of others! Paul says nothing about sins being forgiven when the Lord heals someone, but see the similarity in James (written to the twelve Jewish tribes). Does your church anoint the sick with oil? If so, are they always healed? Are their sins forgiven too?! This is not Church Age doctrine. The greatest apostle that ever lived had an infirmity that wasn’t healed! And he recommended medicine to Timothy not that the elders anoint him and pray for him. He left a good Christian brother sick. James is written doctrinally for Tribulation Jews. These next examples also show a doctrinal difference.

Matthew 18:5
And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.

VERSUS

Colossians 2:6
As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him.

I didn’t receive the Lord Jesus Christ by receiving a little child. The context of that passage is conversion! Look it up! No one gets saved today by receiving a child, but in the Tribulation helping a child who believes in Christ is doing a good work to be justified. See James 2:14-20. Here is another example.

Matthew 24:13
But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

VERSUS

I Corinthians 1:7b,8
…Waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: 8 Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The first verse tells the Israelite that he himself must endure to the end to be saved. The second tells a Church Age Christian that the Lord will confirm him till the end. These verses contradict unless there is a division!

Hebrews 3:14
For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end.

I Corinthians 12:27
Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

I Corinthians 10:17
For we being many are…one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.

Hebrews 3:14 is a warning to Jews in the Tribulation that they will only be partakers of Christ if they hold stedfast. The next two verses say that all Christians are partakers now. Also see Ephesians 5:30.

Matthew 7:1,2
Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged.

VERSUS

I Corinthians 2:15
But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.

Jesus was speaking to pre-crucifixion Jews in Matthew. Paul was instructing Church Age Christians in Corinthians. Those verses contradict unless there is a division!

These next verses are glaring and irreconcilable if there are no divisions in the New Testament. A certain ruler comes to Jesus and asks the most important question a person can ask. He asks the right question to the right person.

Matthew 19:16b,17,21
…Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? 17 And he said unto him…if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. 21…and follow me.

VERSUS

Acts 16:30b,31
…Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and though shalt be saved.

Ephesians 2:8,9
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Jesus told this Israelite ruler to keep to commandments and follow him. That is not the plan of salvation for the Church Age. Church Age salvation is not even partially dependent on good works, but there are New Testament verses that say works are necessary! Remember, where there are supposed contradictions one is commanded to divide the Bible.

Now it has already been established that the Bible says that doctrinally the Old Testament was in effect until the death of Jesus, and that the Old Testament deals with Israel as a nation. Previous verses have proven that Christ and his apostles came to minister to that nation. At Christ’s death the New Testament is instituted. What about contradictions in the New Testament after Christ’s death? The same command to divide applies. The crucifixion marked the first division. What marks the next? At this point God is still dealing with the nation of Israel and has not set them aside yet.

At Jesus’ resurrection he appears to his Jewish disciples and instructs them about the kingdom (Luke 1:32,33) that he and John have preached about. His apostles ask:

Acts 1:6b
…Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

Jesus answered:

Acts 1:7b
…It is not for you to know the times of the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

The crucifixion of the Jewish Messiah had to take place to fulfill the Old Testament prophecy before the kingdom was restored. The nation is forgiven for Christ’s death.

Luke 23:34a
Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do…

As a nation they still have a chance to accept their Messiah. They have not been displaced by the Gentiles yet. They must accept Jesus as their King before he will return and set up the kingdom.

From the crucifixion through Acts 7 God is still dealing exclusively with Israel as a nation. Peter preaches to them on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:5,14,22,36) and again in Acts 3 (vs 12,22) and Acts 4 (v 8) and Acts 5 (v 31). Stephen preaches to them in Acts 6 (v9). There are no Gentiles present or preached to in these chapters unless they are already roselytes to Judaism. (Acts 2:10; 6:1 & John 12:20) Stephen preached to them for the last time before their displacement. In Acts 7 he recounted their national history of disobedience and ends with:

Acts 7:51,52
Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. 52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers.

The nation of Israel needed to repent of their crucifying the Messiah, but at this point they still refuse.

Now God has given himself guidelines for the establishing and destroying of kingdoms.

Jeremiah 18:9,10
And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; 10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.

Here is the next dividing line in the New Testament. Just as Jesus prophesied Israel is about to be displaced. Saul heard Stephen’s message in Acts 7:58 and the Holy Spirit needed only one chapter to convict him, and save him to become the apostle to the Gentiles.

Romans 11:13a
For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles…

The Sanhedrin of that time rejected Jesus when they rejected Stephen’s message. It was that generation’s (Acts 2:39) last chance to accept their Messiah and see the kingdom established in their day. They refused, so God turned to the unclean Gentiles and gave them Paul as their apostle.

Now Acts is a book of progressive revelation and one time events. In Chapter One Christ ascends. In Chapter Two the Holy Spirit is given to individual believers. Signs and wonders are done by the apostles in Acts 5:12. The nation rejects their Messiah in Chapter Seven. A Gentile born black man who was a proselyte to Judaism becomes the first man saved by grace through faith in Acts 8:37. In Chapter Nine the apostle to the Gentiles is saved. And then comes the revelation that Gentiles are no longer unclean and can be saved in Chapter Ten.

That new revelation is especially important because it verifies again the fact that before this time God was not dealing with the Gentiles. The Lord used a dream to inform and convince Peter of this new revelation and change in instructions. He used the sign of tongues to convince those Jews that accompanied Peter to Cornelius’ house. And Peter had to rehearse the speech he knew he’d have to make to the brethren when he returned to Jerusalem. He knew they’d need to be persuaded.

Acts 15 is the chapter where final doctrine is settled for the Gentile Church Age. Certain Hebrew Christians were upsetting the new Gentile converts by telling them that in order to be saved they had to be circumcised and keep the law (v24) in addition to trusting Christ. They decided that Paul and Barnabus should go to Jerusalem to consult with the apostles and elders to resolve the question.

Acts 15:5,6
But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses. 6 And the apostles and elders came together for to consider the matter.

Now this is a crucial issue. Are works necessary for salvation at this point in time? They give their determination here.

Acts 15:9b-11
…Purifying their hearts by faith. 10 Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.

The final decision on Church Age salvation is made. The apostles officially agree that salvation is by grace through faith. No works are needed. And the Bible says that all good works are works of the Law.

Matthew 7:12
Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: this is the law and the prophets.

Romans 2:14b,15a
For when the Gentiles…do by nature the things contained in the law these…15…shew the work of the law written in their hearts…

The conclusion is that no works of any kind help to save a person in the Church Age.

Galatians 2:16a
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ…

The New Testament divisions thus far are these: In the gospels the Old Testament is still in effect until the crucifixion. At this time God is still dealing exclusively with the nation of Israel. The crucifixion is the fulfilling of Jewish prophecy and must take place before the Jewish kingdom can be set up. The nation is forgiven for killing Christ, and exhorted to accept him as Messiah so he can set up the kingdom. Through Acts 7 they are admonished to accept Christ but they refuse. Stephen’s death marks the next New Testament division. God temporarily displaces Israel and turns to the Gentiles. At this time God’s rules and instructions change. Before Acts 7 individuals were saved by faith plus works. (Matthew 19:17; Luke 1:6 and Acts 2:38) In Acts 8:37 the first man is saved by faith alone. And in Acts 15 everyone agrees to that change in doctrine. Works were necessary before that! That’s the reason for the apostolic conclave. At that time they officially recognize the change in doctrine.

Church Age doctrine is found in Paul’s epistles. He is the apostle during the “times of the Gentiles.”

Romans 15:16a
That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God…

During the “times of the Gentiles” people are to follow Paul and his doctrine.

I Corinthians 11:1
Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.

Paul was chosen especially by the Lord so he could reveal a new doctrine that was hidden before Paul. (Ephesians 3:1-8 and Galatians 1:11,12) He calls it his gospel (Romans 16:25) and it is the gospel of salvation by faith alone. Once more this hidden gospel is a shock to them in the book of Acts. That is the reason for their official meeting to determine its validity.

Now there is one more division that the Bible mentions.

Romans 11:25b,26a
Blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved.

This verse says that God will deal with Israel again after he is finished with the Gentiles. Now Paul writes to the Gentiles right up through Philemon. The next book is Hebrews and the one after is James, written “to the twelve tribes, which are scattered abroad.” If there are “apparent contradictions” between these books written to the Jews and Paul’s epistles written for the Church Age then the Bible division can be drawn between Philemon and Hebrews.

Now this does not mean that a Christian cannot find spiritual truth or application in the parts of the Bible that are written to Israel.

Most of the Bible is for Israel!

Romans 15:4a
For whatsoever things were written aforetime were for our learning.

I Corinthians 10:11
These things…are written for our admonition.

But just as a Christian is not to take the dietary laws of Leviticus as doctrine neither is he to take doctrine from other Jewish epistles! And doctrine is the first thing to be considered when understanding a verse.

II Timothy 3:16
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

A detailed study of Paul’s epistles compared to the epistle by James exhibit indisputable contradictions unless there is a doctrinal dividing line. All the denominations which claim works are essential in obtaining or keeping salvation use the book of James. They do this because James does say that works are required. Paul says just the opposite.

Romans 3:20a
Therefore by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified…

Romans 4:6
Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works.

Galatians 2:16a
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law.

II Timothy 1:9a
Who has saved us…not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace.

Paul says that faith (belief) justifies.

Acts 13:39
And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.

Acts 15:9b
…Purifying their hearts by faith.

Romans 3:24a
Being justified freely by his grace…

Ephesians 2:8a,9a
For by grace are ye saved through faith… 9 Not of works.

Romans 4:5
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

Paul’s conclusion:

Romans 11:6
And if by grace, then it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But it if be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.

Romans 3:27,28
Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. 28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

Paul’s conclusion is clear – salvation is “no more of works” (It used to be!!) but now faith alone justifies! James is just as clear as Paul.

James 2:24
Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

OUCH!! What does a Christian who doesn’t divide his Bible do with that verse? Most would say: “Well, forget what it says, this it what it really means…” An honest Christian will admit to the contradiction and obey the Bible command to “rightly divide!”

James is doctrine for the Tribulation. The context of Chapter Two reveals what kind of works, coupled with faith, is needed to justify a man. He begins with:

James 2:1a
The faith of our Lord Jesus Christ…

James 2:1-7 describes not having “respect of persons” as one of the works that helps to justify.

James 2:8b
…the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself…

According to Jesus this is the second commandment on which all the law and the prophets depend. (Matthew 22:40) If a person does have respect of persons, however…

James 2:9b
Ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.

This is definitely the law of Moses because he continues…

James 2:10,11a
For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. 11 For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill…

James goes on to ask an hypothetical question.

James 2:14
What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?

Yes, according to Paul. No, according to James.

James 2:17
Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

James gives two specific Old Testament examples to show the necessity of coupling faith with works. He plainly states that Abraham and Rahab were justified by works.

James 2:21
Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?

James 2:25b
Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works…

Now all works are done in the flesh. See the contradiction between James and Paul.

James 2:22
Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?

VERSUS

Galatians 3:2b,3
Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

James says that faith is made perfect by works while Paul says that works can’t make faith perfect! There must be a division!

Now Abraham is a unique, one of a kind, individual, just as Enoch or Noah or Moses. He is the Father of both the Jews and the saved Gentiles. Of the Jews Stephen preached:

Acts 7:2a
…Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham…

Of saved Gentiles Paul wrote:

Galatians 3:7b
…They which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.

The Bible says some contradictory things about Abraham so there must be a division. Paul says he was not justified by works.

Romans 4:2,5
For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory… 5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

James says he was justified by works.

James 2:21,24
Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? 24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

Just as the Bible has divisions, Abraham’s life has a very important divsion.

Genesis 17:9,10b,26
And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generation. 10b…Every man child among you shall be circumcised. 26 In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son.

Time after time the Bible differentiates between the Hebrews and the Gentiles with reference to this physical difference.

Ephesians 2:11
…That ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands.

Technically, Abraham was a “saved Gentile” before be was circumcised. He was justified in Genesis.

Genesis 15:6
And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

This is exactly what Paul is saying in Romans 4.

Romans 4:8-10
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin, 9 Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. 10 How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.

Abraham was justified the first time by faith alone as an uncircumcised Gentile man. This makes him the Father of the Gentiles who are saved by grace through faith with no works.

Romans 4:11b
…That he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised…

In Genesis 17:26 Abraham goes from the Uncircumcision to the Circumcision. Paul speaks of him as a Gentile while James speaks of him as a Jew. When confirming Abraham’s justification Paul attests to an event before his circumcision (Genesis 15:6). When James describes his justification he points to an event after his circumcision (Genesis 22:9).

James 2:21
Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered Isaac his son upon the altar.

Abraham was justified the second time, as a circumcised Hebrew, by faith plus works. This makes him the Father of the Jews. His faith exhibited in Genesis 15:6 was fulfilled in Genesis 22:9.

Apparent contradictions occur in the New Testament because the divisions are not observed. God does not deal the same way with Israel as he does with the Church. In the Old Testament the Jews were required to keep the law of Moses as well as have faith in God in order to be saved. Israel as a nation was eternally secure but the individuals within that nation were not. If the nation kept God’s laws and commandments it was blessed with temporal, earthly blessings. If it was disobedient it was cursed with temporal, earthly curses. See Deuteronomy 28:1-47 and Leviticus 26. The priests were instructed in the sacrifices to make when there was disobedience. If these sacrifices were made the nation stayed “right” with the Lord. The most important sacrifice being, of course, on the day of atonement where the sins of the nation were forgiven.

Leviticus 16:34a
And this shall be an everlasting statue unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year.

Daily national sacrifices were made to keep the nation “right” as well. See Leviticus 4:13-21 and Numbers 15:22-26. The priests were kept busy.

Now the sin of an individual within the nation could bring temporal condemnation on all of Israel. God charged the nation with sin because of the iniquity of Achan.

Joshua 7:1
But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan…took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel.

Joshua 7:10a,11a
And the Lord said…11a Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them.

Achan’s entire household was stoned for his sin, and the Lord forgave and nation and was appeased.

Joshua 7:26b
…So the Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger…

Now what about Achan, himself. In God’s sight he was not breaking the Law before that time. So up to the time he took the accursed thing he was right with the Lord. When he committed the sin, God caught him and demanded that Israel stone him. Did he lose his “salvation” and go to hell, or was he just “removed” from the nation and sent to Abraham’s bosom as his punishment? The Bible will determine that answer.

The Law covered sacrifices for individual sins as well as national ones. (Leviticus 4:2; Numbers 15:27) The priests were responsible to make the sacrifices in order to keep the nation right with God, but individuals brought sacrifices to the priests to keep themselves right with the Lord. These were required if the person was to stay “saved.” Not all sins could be forgiven with sacrifices.

Hebrews 9:22
And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without the shedding of blood is no remission.

The Old Testament lists a number of sins for which the Lord allowed no sacrifice. The sinner was to be put to death with his blood upon him. Where there was no blood sacrifice there was no forgiveness for the sin. See Leviticus 20:2,6,9-15,27; Leviticus 24:16,17; Deuteronomy 13:6 with 13:9; Exodus 21:12-17; Exodus 22:19; Exodus 31:14.

In Achan’s case there was no sacrifice he could offer and therefore no means of forgiveness. Achan and his unforgiven sin went to hell.

Numbers 15:30,31
But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously…that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 31 Because he hath despised the word of the LORD, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him.

Job 4:7
Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?

Achan lost his salvation! He had been righteous in the eyes of the Law until he took the accursed thing.

Ezekiel 18:26
When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die.

His name had been in the book of life and the Lord blotted it out.

Exodus 32:33
And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.

Psalm 69:28
Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.

Now where there was a sacrifice for a particular sin, it was required to be made before the Lord would forgive the sinner. If he didn’t meet the requirement and make the sacrifice he was not forgiven. Without the shedding of blood is no remission or forgiveness.

Ezekiel 33:12b,15
As for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; 15 If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statues of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.

There was righteousness under the Law of Moses!!

Deuteronomy 6:25
And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.

Romans 10:5
For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.

Zacharias, Elisabeth, and Paul all had this righteousness.

Luke 1:6
And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

Philippians 3:6
Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

The righteousness given by the Law was not the same as the righteousness that is freely given when one trusts Christ as his personal Saviour.

Philippians 3:9
And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.

There was no guarantee of eternal life under the Law because it depended on the conduct of the individual. As mentioned earlier the nation of Israel was and is eternally secure. They have an unconditional promise, but the individual within the nation had to keep the commandments.

Ezekiel 33:12
Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth.

Deuteronomy 29:18a, 20
Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our

God…20 The LORD will not spare him…and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven.

Christians today are eternally secure, in Christ. We don’t need to keep the commandments, because he kept them for us and we are in him! But no one in the Old Testament was in Christ. No one had kept the commandments for them, so they had to try to keep them themselves. When they failed, God had required, designated sacrifices for them to perform. If God had provided no sacrifice for their sin, or they failed to offer the necessary sacrifice, they lost their righteousness which was under the Law (their salvation) because “without the shedding of blood there is no remission.”

Now in a “rightly divided” New Testament are keeping the commandments ever necessary for salvation? Looking at some other apparent New Testament contradictions will clarify it.

Matthew 6:14,15
For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

VERSUS

Colossians 2:13
And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

Matthew says a person has forgiveness only if he forgives others. This is good works under the Law. See Matthew 7:12. Paul says a person is forgiven of all trespasses when he gets saved. See Ephesians 1:13.

II Timothy 2:13
If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

Hebrews 3:12,14
Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of, unbelief, in departing from the living God. 14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end.

Paul says that a Christian’s unbelief cannot separate him from God. According to Romans 8:38,39 nothing can. A Christian is eternally secure no matter what he believes or what he does. He is part of Christ’s body and already a partaker according to I Corinthians 12:27 and I Corinthians 10:17. But in Hebrews it says that an unbelieving heart can make a person depart from God and fail to be a partaker. Hebrews says that the person must “hold…unto the end.” This command is repeated in Matthew 10:22, Matthew 24:13, and Mark 13:13. These Israelites must not depart from God but “hold on” in order to be saved! Those two doctrines are not the same. They contradict! The following passages also confirm this.

Colossians 3:10
And have put on the knew man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.

I Timothy 2:4
Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

Hebrews 10:26,29,38,39.
For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. 29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? 38 Now the just shall live by faith; but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him, 39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

There are two important “contradictions” in these verses. The Lord Jesus Christ is “the Truth.” Paul says that God wants all men to be saved by coming to the knowledge of the Truth. That knowledge makes a person a new man with a new image. A Christian is in Christ, and Christ is in a Christian. (Colossians 1:27) Once a person is in Christ he is sanctified (I Corinthians 1:2), he is secure.

The verses in Hebrews speak of a person who had “received the knowledge of the truth.” Not only that, “he was sanctified.” But something happened. He drew “back unto perdition!” He lost his salvation!!

A Christian today can’t lose his salvation!! This passage in Hebrews is written doctrinally for someone else. So were the next set of verses.

II Peter 2:19-21
While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. 20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment, delivered unto them.

The people discussed here had been saved. They had escaped the world’s pollution through the knowledge of Jesus, but then were overcome again by the world. These people cannot be Church Age Christians. How is it ever better for a Christian not to have known the way of righteousness? A Church Age Christian who goes back to live in the world is still a Christian. He’ll lose his rewards but not his salvation. But during the Tribulation it is a different story. Hebrews 10:26-31 explains.

Salvation during the Tribulation is based on both faith and works. Jesus, himself, said that love toward God, whom we can’t see (faith); and love toward our neighbor, whom we can see (works) are the two commandments upon which hang all the law and prophets. (Matthew 22:36-40). The Old Testament Jewish saints were required to obey God’s commandments to be and to stay saved. The Tribulation saints will be required to have faith in Christ and keep the commandments by helping their neighbors. Time after time this theme is expounded. (Matthew 10:40-42; Matthew 19:16-21; Luke 10:25-37; Hebrews 6:10; Hebrews 10:24; James 1:22-27; James 2:1-9; I Peter 1:22) In fact, God determines the disposition of the nations according to how they treat the Jew during the Tribulation. (Matthew 25:31-46)

During the Tribulation, if a person has faith in Christ and helps his neighbor then Christ will dwell in him. If he breaks one of these commandments his former righteousness does not count, just as it was in the Old Testament. One must endure to the end and not be overcome. (II Peter 2:20)

Revelation 12:17
And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Revelation 14:12
Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Revelation 22:14
Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates unto the city.

I don’t need to keep the commandments to be or remain saved. My salvation is by grace alone through faith. I don’t need to eat of the tree of life because I already have eternal life!! Tribulation salvation has two parts : Faith and Works! A person during this time must believe, overcome, and endure to the end. John explains this in his epistles.

John 14:21a
He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father…

John 14:23
If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

The keeping of two commandments will insure God being in you.

I John 5:3a
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments…

I John 3:23
And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.

John 15:12
This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

Now I know that Christians are supposed to love each other, but that is not a requirement for our salvation. It is here.

John 15:10a
If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love…

Romans 8:39 says that nothing can separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. The man who doesn’t “abide” in Christ (he used to be in him but didn’t stay) is cast into the fire and burned. (John 15:6).

A person who abides in Christ by keeping the two commandments has Christ in him, and he is in Christ. This person is said to have “overcome” because Christ has overcome the world.

John 16:33
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

I John 4:4
Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

In order to overcome the world and not be overcome by it (II Peter 2:20 and Revelation 13:7) a person must have faith and works.

Revelation 12:11
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Revelation 2:26
And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:

Many rewards and privileges are granted to those people in the Tribulation who overcome and endure to the end. (Revelation 2:7; Revelation 2:11,17,26; Revelation 3:5,12,21; Revelation 21:7) I don’t have to worry about overcoming or enduring because the Holy Spirit is sealed inside me until the day of the redemption of my body, and in Christ I am secure.

The conclusion is much like the beginning. God commands us to divide his word. Christ himself says that he came to Israel, that it would be temporarily put aside, and then dealt with again when the times of the Gentiles were over. God doesn’t change, but many verses prove that his rules and regulations concerning different people at different times do change. Although all scripture is for the Christian’s learning and admonition, not all scripture can be applied doctrinally. Most of the Bible is written about and to the nation of Israel. Only a small part is written doctrinally for the Church which is the body of Christ. The rest of the scriptures are for our reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness. Many doctrines are consistent throughout the entire Bible. The doctrine of salvation, however, changes as do some of God’s other doctrines (dietary for example). Many Bible verses have been used to show that salvation during the Tribulation is a result of both faith and works. If a person believes what the Bible says there can be no doubt of this. If a person puts himself in God’s stead and says “Well, it may say that…but what it really means is…..” then there is no help for him. What he really means is “How much fish oil can you get from a baked watermelon?”

If any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.
I Corinthians 14:38

Why Angels do not have second chance

by

David W. Reid

Those who have come to understand God’s abundant grace toward man often marvel at what God has done for man despite our utter and complete unrighteousness. While God has chosen to bestow grace upon man, the scriptures are noticeably silent as to any provision for fallen angels. While the author does not pretend to know all of the reasons in the mind of God as to why such provision was not made, a few insights can be gleaned from how the scriptures describe angels.

We begin with the observation that angels hold a higher rank and position in the universe than man does but that man’s position is only slightly inferior.

What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. (Ps 8:4-5)

A key difference between men and angels is that angels are incapable of dying while all men die.

But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:

Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection. (Luke 20:35-36)

In fact, the very reason that Christ was made a little lower than the angels was so that he could suffer death.

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. (Heb 2:9)

Since one of the key differences between men and angels is the ability to suffer death, it is important to understand what it means to die. Death is not, as commonly thought, the cessation of existence because a man’s soul is eternal.

What transpires at death is the separation of a man’s soul and his spirit from his physical body.

And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin.

For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. (Gen 35:18, Jam 2:26)

Death is simply the departure of the soul and the spirit from the physical body. Thus, when scripture indicates that angels cannot die, it is an indication that the nature of the heavenly bodies given to angels is such that the bodies cannot be separated from their souls and spirits.

Prior to the saints of this dispensation occupying their positions of service in heavenly places they must be given new incorruptible bodies (Rom 8:23, 1Cor 15:42-44). The explicit reason given for these change is that our corrupt bodies are not suitable to receive our inheritance in heavenly places.

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. (1Cor 15:50)

The corruption in our physical bodies is a reference to sin dwelling in our flesh.

Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. (Rom 7:20, 23)

Our corruptible flesh in which sin dwells is unfit for heavenly places. If, after removing fallen angels from heaven, God were to allow us to enter our heavenly positions in our sinful flesh, soon the heavenly places would again be filled with sin just as the earth is today. Therefore, God has provided new spiritual, incorruptible bodies for us to avoid contaminating heaven.

As discussed above, angels were created as a higher class of being and are incapable of dying. Thus, angels that have sinned inhabit bodies where sin resides and from which the angels’ souls cannot be set free. As a result, if God wishes the new heavens and the new earth to be free from sin, he has no choice but to prevent fallen angels from entering into it since they cannot be given new bodies. It is for this reason (and perhaps others) that scriptures do not record angels as having a second chance.[1]

http://www.midactstracts.com/studies/angels2ndchance.html

The Day of the Lord

What is the “Day of the Lord”?

by

David W. Reid

Many believe that the Day of the Lord is a time of darkness in which the Lord unleashes his vengeance upon the earth. This view is correct as evidenced by Isaiah 13.

Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. (Isa 13:6)

However, the Day of the Lord includes not only God’s vengeance at the Second Coming but also the Lord’s millennial reign during his kingdom.

Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.

And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one. (Zec 14:1, 9)

It is further clear that the Day of the Lord, which begins with the Second Coming and lasts through Christ’s 1000 year reign on the earth, also includes the dissolving of the current heavens and earth.

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. (2Pe 3:10)

It is thus clear that the Day of the Lord is not a single event or even a series of related events occurring closely in time but a number of different events that play out over more than 1000 years. The scriptural definition of the Day of the Lord is not simply God’s judgment at the Second Coming or Christ’s millennial reign but all events that transpire when the Lord is present. According to Zephaniah, it is the presence of the Lord that makes the Day of the Lord what it is.

Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests. (Zep 1:7)

The fact that the Day of the Lord is fundamentally the presence of the Lord leads to a number of significant conclusions. First, the Day of the Lord does not begin on earth until the Lord’s Second Coming. Many hold that the Day of the Lord includes the entire tribulation, but that is not the implication of the following verses:

And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (Joel 2:30-31, Matt 21:29-30)

From the perspective of those on the earth, the Day of the Lord does not and cannot begin until the Lord’s physical return to the earth at the end of the tribulation at his Second Coming.

Second, the Day of the Lord must begin in the heavens before it begins on the earth. Revelation 12 makes it clear that the heavens are cleansed before Christ returns to the earth.

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. (Rev 12:7-9, 12)

Since Christ must physically pass through the heavens to return to the earth, it is only natural that the Day of the Lord must begin in the heavens prior to his descent to the earth.

For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. (Isa 34:5)

Once one understands that the Day of the Lord is a reference to Christ’s presence, it is natural to wonder what Paul refers to when he uses the following terms: the day of Christ, the day of Jesus Christ, the day of the Lord Jesus, and the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Since these phrases are found only in Paul’s epistles, some have concluded that these terms are simply a reference to the Rapture. However, the Day of Christ cannot refer solely to the Rapture given what Paul says in 2Thessalonians 2.

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,

That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. (2Th 2:1-2)

If the Day of Christ is simply the Rapture, then there would be no reason for the Thessalonians to fear the coming of the Day of Christ. What the Day of Christ refers to is not simply the Rapture but the revealing of the Lord’s presence to the body of Christ.

Since the body of Christ is not appointed to wrath (1Thess 5:9, Rom 5:9), its Day of Christ must of necessity be different from the wrath that characterizes the beginning of the Day of the Lord. Instead, the day of Christ is a reference to the Rapture, the judgment seat of Christ, and the subsequent events that transpire in the heavenly places as God reconciles the heavens to himself.

In both the prophecy and the mystery programs, it is clear that a man’s earthly life is a walk of faith while he will operate by sight in his eternal destination where the Lord is present.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:

(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. (Heb 11:1, 2Cor 5:6-8)

The prophecy and mystery programs each have their own event that transforms faith into sight. For the prophetic program, that event is the physical, visible return of Christ to the earth. Once the Second Coming occurs, saints in the prophecy program will not walk by faith but by sight. For the mystery program, when the body of Christ meets the Lord in the air at the Rapture, it will then walk by sight not faith. Thus, the day of Christ is the visible, physical revelation of Jesus Christ to the body of Christ just as the Day of the Lord was the comparable revelation to the kingdom church.

With this understanding, 2Thessalonians poses no difficulty.

That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; (2Thess 2:2-3)

The specific phrases used in reference to the day of Christ are “at hand” and “shall not come.” The day of Christ is never “at hand” for the body of Christ because it is never physically close. 1Thessalonians 4 makes clear that the body of Christ is caught up into the heavenly places at the Rapture. Thus, in the visible, physical, spatial sense, the day of Christ is never “at hand” for the body of Christ while it is on the earth. The immediately following verse makes clear that the subject that is being addressed is where the Lord’s presence is manifest.

In short, both the Day of the Lord and the day of Christ refer to the Lord’s presence to bring to culmination his purposes for the earth and the heavens.

What is the “Day of the Lord”?

by

David W. Reid

Many believe that the Day of the Lord is a time of darkness in which the Lord unleashes his vengeance upon the earth. This view is correct as evidenced by Isaiah 13.

Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. (Isa 13:6)

However, the Day of the Lord includes not only God’s vengeance at the Second Coming but also the Lord’s millennial reign during his kingdom.

Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.

And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one. (Zec 14:1, 9)

It is further clear that the Day of the Lord, which begins with the Second Coming and lasts through Christ’s 1000 year reign on the earth, also includes the dissolving of the current heavens and earth.

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. (2Pe 3:10)

It is thus clear that the Day of the Lord is not a single event or even a series of related events occurring closely in time but a number of different events that play out over more than 1000 years. The scriptural definition of the Day of the Lord is not simply God’s judgment at the Second Coming or Christ’s millennial reign but all events that transpire when the Lord is present. According to Zephaniah, it is the presence of the Lord that makes the Day of the Lord what it is.

Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests. (Zep 1:7)

The fact that the Day of the Lord is fundamentally the presence of the Lord leads to a number of significant conclusions. First, the Day of the Lord does not begin on earth until the Lord’s Second Coming. Many hold that the Day of the Lord includes the entire tribulation, but that is not the implication of the following verses:

And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (Joel 2:30-31, Matt 21:29-30)

From the perspective of those on the earth, the Day of the Lord does not and cannot begin until the Lord’s physical return to the earth at the end of the tribulation at his Second Coming.

Second, the Day of the Lord must begin in the heavens before it begins on the earth. Revelation 12 makes it clear that the heavens are cleansed before Christ returns to the earth.

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. (Rev 12:7-9, 12)

Since Christ must physically pass through the heavens to return to the earth, it is only natural that the Day of the Lord must begin in the heavens prior to his descent to the earth.

For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. (Isa 34:5)

Once one understands that the Day of the Lord is a reference to Christ’s presence, it is natural to wonder what Paul refers to when he uses the following terms: the day of Christ, the day of Jesus Christ, the day of the Lord Jesus, and the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Since these phrases are found only in Paul’s epistles, some have concluded that these terms are simply a reference to the Rapture. However, the Day of Christ cannot refer solely to the Rapture given what Paul says in 2Thessalonians 2.

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,

That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. (2Th 2:1-2)

If the Day of Christ is simply the Rapture, then there would be no reason for the Thessalonians to fear the coming of the Day of Christ. What the Day of Christ refers to is not simply the Rapture but the revealing of the Lord’s presence to the body of Christ.

Since the body of Christ is not appointed to wrath (1Thess 5:9, Rom 5:9), its Day of Christ must of necessity be different from the wrath that characterizes the beginning of the Day of the Lord. Instead, the day of Christ is a reference to the Rapture, the judgment seat of Christ, and the subsequent events that transpire in the heavenly places as God reconciles the heavens to himself.

In both the prophecy and the mystery programs, it is clear that a man’s earthly life is a walk of faith while he will operate by sight in his eternal destination where the Lord is present.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:

(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. (Heb 11:1, 2Cor 5:6-8)

The prophecy and mystery programs each have their own event that transforms faith into sight. For the prophetic program, that event is the physical, visible return of Christ to the earth. Once the Second Coming occurs, saints in the prophecy program will not walk by faith but by sight. For the mystery program, when the body of Christ meets the Lord in the air at the Rapture, it will then walk by sight not faith. Thus, the day of Christ is the visible, physical revelation of Jesus Christ to the body of Christ just as the Day of the Lord was the comparable revelation to the kingdom church.

With this understanding, 2Thessalonians poses no difficulty.

That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; (2Thess 2:2-3)

The specific phrases used in reference to the day of Christ are “at hand” and “shall not come.” The day of Christ is never “at hand” for the body of Christ because it is never physically close. 1Thessalonians 4 makes clear that the body of Christ is caught up into the heavenly places at the Rapture. Thus, in the visible, physical, spatial sense, the day of Christ is never “at hand” for the body of Christ while it is on the earth. The immediately following verse makes clear that the subject that is being addressed is where the Lord’s presence is manifest.

In short, both the Day of the Lord and the day of Christ refer to the Lord’s presence to bring to culmination his purposes for the earth and the heavens.

What is the “Day of the Lord”?

by

David W. Reid

Many believe that the Day of the Lord is a time of darkness in which the Lord unleashes his vengeance upon the earth. This view is correct as evidenced by Isaiah 13.

Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. (Isa 13:6)

However, the Day of the Lord includes not only God’s vengeance at the Second Coming but also the Lord’s millennial reign during his kingdom.

Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.

And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one. (Zec 14:1, 9)

It is further clear that the Day of the Lord, which begins with the Second Coming and lasts through Christ’s 1000 year reign on the earth, also includes the dissolving of the current heavens and earth.

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. (2Pe 3:10)

It is thus clear that the Day of the Lord is not a single event or even a series of related events occurring closely in time but a number of different events that play out over more than 1000 years. The scriptural definition of the Day of the Lord is not simply God’s judgment at the Second Coming or Christ’s millennial reign but all events that transpire when the Lord is present. According to Zephaniah, it is the presence of the Lord that makes the Day of the Lord what it is.

Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests. (Zep 1:7)

The fact that the Day of the Lord is fundamentally the presence of the Lord leads to a number of significant conclusions. First, the Day of the Lord does not begin on earth until the Lord’s Second Coming. Many hold that the Day of the Lord includes the entire tribulation, but that is not the implication of the following verses:

And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (Joel 2:30-31, Matt 21:29-30)

From the perspective of those on the earth, the Day of the Lord does not and cannot begin until the Lord’s physical return to the earth at the end of the tribulation at his Second Coming.

Second, the Day of the Lord must begin in the heavens before it begins on the earth. Revelation 12 makes it clear that the heavens are cleansed before Christ returns to the earth.

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. (Rev 12:7-9, 12)

Since Christ must physically pass through the heavens to return to the earth, it is only natural that the Day of the Lord must begin in the heavens prior to his descent to the earth.

For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. (Isa 34:5)

Once one understands that the Day of the Lord is a reference to Christ’s presence, it is natural to wonder what Paul refers to when he uses the following terms: the day of Christ, the day of Jesus Christ, the day of the Lord Jesus, and the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Since these phrases are found only in Paul’s epistles, some have concluded that these terms are simply a reference to the Rapture. However, the Day of Christ cannot refer solely to the Rapture given what Paul says in 2Thessalonians 2.

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,

That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. (2Th 2:1-2)

If the Day of Christ is simply the Rapture, then there would be no reason for the Thessalonians to fear the coming of the Day of Christ. What the Day of Christ refers to is not simply the Rapture but the revealing of the Lord’s presence to the body of Christ.

Since the body of Christ is not appointed to wrath (1Thess 5:9, Rom 5:9), its Day of Christ must of necessity be different from the wrath that characterizes the beginning of the Day of the Lord. Instead, the day of Christ is a reference to the Rapture, the judgment seat of Christ, and the subsequent events that transpire in the heavenly places as God reconciles the heavens to himself.

In both the prophecy and the mystery programs, it is clear that a man’s earthly life is a walk of faith while he will operate by sight in his eternal destination where the Lord is present.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:

(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. (Heb 11:1, 2Cor 5:6-8)

The prophecy and mystery programs each have their own event that transforms faith into sight. For the prophetic program, that event is the physical, visible return of Christ to the earth. Once the Second Coming occurs, saints in the prophecy program will not walk by faith but by sight. For the mystery program, when the body of Christ meets the Lord in the air at the Rapture, it will then walk by sight not faith. Thus, the day of Christ is the visible, physical revelation of Jesus Christ to the body of Christ just as the Day of the Lord was the comparable revelation to the kingdom church.

With this understanding, 2Thessalonians poses no difficulty.

That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; (2Thess 2:2-3)

The specific phrases used in reference to the day of Christ are “at hand” and “shall not come.” The day of Christ is never “at hand” for the body of Christ because it is never physically close. 1Thessalonians 4 makes clear that the body of Christ is caught up into the heavenly places at the Rapture. Thus, in the visible, physical, spatial sense, the day of Christ is never “at hand” for the body of Christ while it is on the earth. The immediately following verse makes clear that the subject that is being addressed is where the Lord’s presence is manifest.

In short, both the Day of the Lord and the day of Christ refer to the Lord’s presence to bring to culmination his purposes for the earth and the heavens.

http://www.midactstracts.com/studies/dayofthelord.html

Is Your Weapon a ……… Butter Knife?

King James Bible = Sword of the Spirit
NIV Bible = Butter Knife

If you were lucifer…?

(Lucifer is deleted from the NIV, by the way) that is quite a magick trick…

If you were the Devil, would you not try to attack and destroy Gods Holy Words first thing…?

Look at the very first time that the Devil is mentioned in the Bible…

Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

The Serpent (Satan) talked Eve into listening to him and ignoring God.

He questioned God’s word…

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Download your own copy of The Sword of the Spirit here:

http://www.genesis.net.au/~bible/

This Temporary Life

All that we enjoy, and all that we suffer here must soon vanish and disappear. The most splendid palace will decay; the most costly pile will molder to dust; the most magnificent city will fall to ruins; the most exquisite earthly pleasures will soon come to an end; and the most extended possessions can be enjoyed but a little time. So too the acutest pain will soon be over; the most lingering disease will soon cease; the evils of the deepest poverty, want, and suffering will soon be passed. There is nothing on which the eye can fix, nothing that the heart can desire here, which will not soon fade away; or, if it survives, it is temporary in regard to us. We must soon leave it to others; and if enjoyed, it will be enjoyed while our bodies are slumbering in the grave … How foolish, then, to make these our portion, and to fix our affections supremely on the things of this life! How foolish also to be very deeply affected by the trials of this life, which at the furthest CAN be endured but a little longer before we shall be for ever beyond their reach!

Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
II Corinthians 4:18
This Temporary Life
“And all things are of God …” (II Corinthians 5:18).
Albert Barnes
(1798–1870)

B I B L E S T U D E N T ’ S P R E S S ™
Study Shelf, PO Box 265, Windber, PA 15963
1-800-784-6010 / www.StudyShelf.com
Taken from the Bible Student’s Notebook™, a weekly Bible study publication available in two formats
(electronic and printed)
www.BibleStudentsNotebook.com