What does the Bible say about personal visions and dreams of a prophetic nature and those having them teaching their dreams to other Christians as facts to come?
“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in TIME PAST unto the fathers BY THE PROPHETS, 2 Hath in THESE LAST DAYS spoken unto us BY HIS SON, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;” (Hebrews 1:1-2 KJV)
Is that not clear? We need to look to Christ and the Word of God. THAT is the truth now. God wrote His last days prophecies that will come to pass. You can read them, IN YOUR BIBLE. Does that mean God does not use Dreams and visions in helping people come to Christ? Not at all. God does. But these dreams cannot be relied on if they do not match the Word of God. We have an enemy. Paul says we are to ‘test the spirits’ to be sure it is from God. How do we do that? By reading God’s Word the Bible. Anything teaching against it is FALSE.
What about where Peter said in Acts 2, that in the last days that God will pour out His Spirit and people will have dreams and visions happening?
Well, look at the verses around verse 17 in Acts 2 to see the true context about this and we see that Peter is drawing a very long drawn out period of time. Peter gets very specific in verse 16 and that seems to be ignored by people regarding prophetic dreams and visions.
“16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;” (Acts 2:16 KJV)
When we actually go to Joel 2 we read this,
“28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: 29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. 30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. 32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for IN MOUNT ZION AND IN JERUSALEM shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.” (Joel 2:28-32 KJV)
This about what will happen in Jerusalem when Christ first came and it was fulfilled. It is talking about what started at Pentecost. It shows an overview of what will happen and has now happened and continues happening in our Church Age, this dispensation of grace today. Anyone who calls upon the Lord in belief of His finished work on the cross will have the Spirit poured out on them, and if they believe on Christ and His finished work on the cross (1 John 2:2) , poured into them. Believers will receive a new Born Again Spirit and the indwelling Holy Spirit of God (John 3:5-, 14-18, Ephesians 1:13-14, 2 or, 5:17-21, Colossians 2).
Yes, believers do have visions and dreams but that does not mean they are for us to tell others as doctrine or for certain prophetic facts for others to believe and follow.
I have personally had dreams and I have had visions from God. Does that make me some special believer and a prophet to others? NO! I was given some very specific ones and I see some of it already coming to pass; but they are FOR ME. God gave them to me for a purpose for me. I will never teach them to others as Biblical facts.
Rely on the Bible prophecies Only
Peter continues writing and when he writes ‘the last days’ it is not a specific time period he is describing, not just the very end of the Last Days of this Church Age time period we now live within. No. Peter describes a very long overview of time in human history from Pentecost to the new heavens and the new Earth.
That covers a 3000 year time span at least!
“And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Acts 2:17 KJV)
Peter is also writing about the DAY OF THE LORD time period which to him is a long way in the future. It starts with Daniel’s 70th week, the start of the Tribulation Period and continues through the 1000 year Kingdom Age in which Christ will be ruling on Earth in the future, and ends with the destruction of Earth and a new heavens and Earth to come.
Through it all, whoever comes to belief on Christ for justification and righteousness shall be saved. It is encouragement for believers back then when he wrote this, for all in our current dispensation of grace, for those in great persecution in future Tribulation Period and beyond through the 1000 year Kingdom Age.
Does God give dreams and visions today to people?
Yes. Many. But it is the Gospel that saves by God’s truth; the Word of God by the Holy Spirit drawing people to the knowledge of the truth of Jesus as Lord.
Was the dream Joseph had of his brothers bowing to him for others or for him? How about Jesus’ step dad Joseph, the carpenter? Was his dream given by God telling him that what Mary said is true about her pregnancy and not being with another man for everyone around him to hear, or was it for him?
God is and does pour out his Spirit in all who believe on Christ. And dreams and visions are also happening but it is not as some are telling others that “God told ME this and you need to believe it.” NOR “God gave me a dream of prophecy and you need to believe it and act on it.”
We are not to follow the Law and the prophets now. That was all PAST. We are to follow Christ today. When Christ was transfigured we see this happened,
“2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. 3 And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. 4 Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. 5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; HEAR YE HIM.” (Matthew 17 KJV)
Moses was given THE LAW. Elias was about the Prophets before the Law. Here we see The Law, the Prophets and Christ the Messiah. Peter was putting them all on equal footing. God, the FATHER audibly spoke out against that! FOLLOW and HEAR CHRIST! We must remember that today.
Stick to God’s Word by the guidance of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Otherwise, you can be swayed away from the truth.
” And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed. And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,
And brought them out, and said, Sirs, WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?
And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.
And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.
And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.” (Acts 16:26-34 KJV)
Here is Apostle Paul and Silas locked up in a very harsh jail cell, locked in chains. Not a great place to be and a situation that would cause most of us, even as believers, great fear and anxiety. Yet, what are they doing in this jail cell? Singing! Praising God! WOW! Look at their faith! Amazing right? An Earthquake happens and all the jail doors and shackles on their body are all removed. The jailer who had fallen asleep in his boring job wakes up in a panic to find all jail doors open. FEAR strikes him to his very core! If a prisoner escaped, the Roman authority who have him killed and tortured. So he decides it is better to kill himself and he takes out his sword to do just that!
But where is Paul and Silas? Did they take the opportunity to escape? NO! I must admit, if I was facing death in this prison, I probably would have ran until I could run no more. But not Paul. Not Silas. What BOLD FAITH! Paul was once a persecutor of Christians. He imprisoned believers once and he knew the rules for that jail keeper. So they scream out to the jail keeper to not kill himself, because they are right where they should be. They tell him not to kill himself. Look at the grace and love Paul and Silas gave this jail keeper! This is the love Christ has shown toward us and that we should show toward even our enemies.
The jailer sees this grace given and is very moved by it. You see, it is the love and grace of God that leads a person to repentance and Salvation. We need to remember this brothers and sisters in Christ! The jailer asks them, what does he need to do to be saved? He wanted the same grace. He heard their songs and praise of God, while sitting in that jail cell. But he did not know exactly what was the conditions to be saved.
Paul answers him with only ONE THING! Not a list of things that WE must DO. Paul did not list anything but ONE THING and here it is,
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.“
BELIEVE on Jesus as the Lord and the Christ. That is it. Believe what? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ! Believe that Jesus is God who died on the cross for our sins and rose again. This jailer certainly knows who Jesus is. Jesus’ followers are being imprisoned for believing in Jesus. It is the Romans who crucified Jesus. This jailer knew who Jesus is as a person but not how to be saved because of Jesus. Notice there is no long list of what this jailer needed TO DO to be saved. No water baptism as a requirement. No confessing every individual sin the jailer ever committed. No. Just ONE THING; believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the very same reply Jesus answered whenever he was asked the same question! In John 3, Nicodemus, a chief ruler of the Pharisees, asked Jesus this question and His answer is to BELIEVE ON CHRIST with nothing else mentioned (John 3:14-18). Others asked Jesus this question about how do we do the works of God and the will of God in John 6:37-40 and Jesus’ reply is only one answer.. BELIEVE ON CHRIST. I mean these questions were asked to Jesus directly for an answer. The jailer asked Paul and Silas directly for the answer. And the answer is just one thing; believe on the Lord Jesus. If any other requirements had to be met, wouldn’t Jesus and Paul and Silas list them? Yet, they do not. This is clear truth about Salvation.
Does This Mean That If I Am Saved That My Whole Family Is Automatically Saved?
Not at all. Paul is just saying that anyone, including the jailers whole family who would be the first to hear the truth from the jailer, can be saved by belief on Christ and His finished work on the cross, having paid for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2). And if we continue reading in Acts 16, we see that this message was first preached to the jailers family and they accepted the free gift of Salvation by belief on the Lord Jesus. To be saved and born again in the Spirit, a person must believe the Jesus is God who came and never sinned, died on the cross, paid for the sins of the whole world and rose again. Just as Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians,
“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4 KJV)
BUT! WAIT! Paul said to believe in THE LORD Jesus Christ. Doesn’t That Mean Lordship Salvation Is Correct?
Not at all. We cannot take the TITLE of Jesus as Lord and make works after salvation a requirement of Salvation. Jesus is LORD whether a person believes it or not! Jesus nor Paul replied to the question about how to be saved by adding works as a requirement of salvation. Good works can come from our salvation but not for our salvation.
Lordship Salvation is one of the most widely spread false teachings and it is rampant false teaching within the Christian Community and being taught by pulpits. It ‘sounds right’ but that is because it appeals to our wrong old nature thinking in the mind, instead of the truth of God’s Word and our New Spirit of God that God made believers from the moment of belief on Christ for justification and Salvation (Ephesians 1:13-14, 2 Cor. 5:17-21).
Lordship Salvation teachers tell us that a person must believe the gospel PLUS repent of sins a requirement of Salvation Through Christ. The very statement itself states two opposing beliefs! It is teaching that salvation is not by faith alone in Christ alone. It is PRIDE! Instead, it would be by faith PLUS the act of turning from sin as a person makesJesus Lord Of All.
WE DO NOT MAKE JESUS LORD, HE IS LORD!
In other words, Lordship Salvation is a belief that salvation is obtained by faith in God PLUS turning from sin as a requirement of being saved – which amounts to keeping the Law. It is about our performance being required. Jesus did not teach it. Paul and Silas did not tell the jailer this either. Paul used the word LORD as a TITLE. In other words, a person must BELIEVE that Jesus IS GOD.
To understand the truth about a person being sanctified we need to first understand what the word ‘HOLY’ is defined as. What does the Bible mean when it uses the English translated word ‘HOLY’. This is a matter of great importance in interpreting passages about a believer and how they are SANCTIFIED. Is sanctification a life long process, where we are moment by moment becoming more and more Holy? Or does a believer’s sanctification happen in an instant, from the very moment that they believe on Christ and His finished work on the cross, having in the past, PAID the just penalty for all our sins?
When we look up the English translated word SANCTIFY in the New Testament in the Greek , what do we find as the definition of the word? What we find is Strongs G37:
G37: ἁγιάζω hagiázō, hag-ee-ad’-zo; from G40; to make holy. ( Strongs Concordance)
So, the word Sanctify literally means to MAKE HOLY. So we see that how we define the English translated word HOLY matters much in seeing the truth about being sanctified as believers. So, when we further look into this in Greek, we are pushed to look into the word ‘Holy’ which is, as G37 tells us, G40:
In essence, the meaning is ‘most holy thing, a saint’.
Let us first look at this word Holy as it is used whenever the ‘Holy Spirit’ or ‘Holy Ghost’ is mentioned.
“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the HOLY Ghost.” (Matthew 1:18 KJV)
The Holy Ghost is GOD right? So how Holy and set apart is God from all of His creation? Hugely set apart! He is the Alpha and Omega; the beginning and the end. The one and only God of all that exists! So when the word HOLY in ‘Holy Spirit’ is used in the Bible, it is basically saying that God is completely SET APART from all of His creation. He is the almighty God who always existed and always will. Now, THAT is definitely a set apart being! Yes? The word HOLY in the name ‘Holy Spirit’ is Strongs G40 in Greek.
You see this word HOLY is used by many in so many different ways by believers today that it has become a pivotal part of how they believe about Salvation and justification with God. This is something we must get right! To be Holy is basically to be PERFECT and SET APART. Understanding this as the proper definition of the English translated word for HOLY, we now return to the word SANCTIFY (G37) in the New Testament because it references the very same word ‘HOLY” in the ‘Holy Spirit’, which is G40.
Apostle Paul used this word SANCTIFY many times in his ministry such as,
“That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being SANCTIFIED BY THE HOLY GHOST.” (Romans 15:16 KJV)
“And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but YE ARE SANCTIFIED, but YE ARE JUSTIFIED in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the SPIRIT OF OUR GOD.” (1 Corinthians 6:11 KJV)
This last quoted Scripture from 1 Cor. 6 is a real eye opener. Sanctified by what? It states by the SPIRIT OF OUR GOD and when you look that phrase up in the Greek, it literally means the HOLY SPIRIT.
The word ‘sanctified’ is G37 and again, it is not defined as believers striving to become more sanctified by living more holy lives, as if we can even do that in our own efforts. Yes, of course a believer is to live right outwardly in love towards others and in good works. But regarding this word SANCTIFY that is not we see as the meaning. The word Sanctify literally means ‘TO MAKE HOLY’. Does that mean we have to make ourselves Holy to be sanctified by God? Not according to Scripture!
“And THE VERY GOD OF PEACE SANCTIFY YOU WHOLLY; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be PRESERVED BLAMELESS unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23 KJV)
In this verse, it is GOD who is making the believer HOLY. And it is God who keeps us in this state of being called ‘HOLY’. It is not our work; it is God’s work to make a person HOLY! That is in fact how we are saved is it not? Apostle Paul taught so,
“For BY GRACE are ye saved THROUGH FAITH; and that NOT OF YOURSELVES: it is the GIFT of God: NOT OF WORKS, lest any man should boast. For we are HIS WORKMANSHIP, CREATED IN Christ JesusUNTO good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:9-10 KJV)
The writer of Hebrews also states so,
“Wherefore Jesus also, THAT HE MIGHT SANCTIFY the people WITH HIS OWN BLOOD, suffered without the gate.” (Hebrews 13:12 KJV)
Do we read, in any of these verses, that a person is sanctified by our works and right living? NO! A person is sanctified by God through belief in Jesus the Christ (God in the flesh, who is God!)
“But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, BECAUSE GOD HATH from the beginning chosen you to salvation THROUGH SANCTIFICATION OF THE SPIRIT and belief of the truth:” (2 Thessalonians 2:13 KJV)
Again, we see that it is GOD who is setting a believer apart and making them Holy, which is the very definition of the word sanctification (G37), ‘TO MAKE HOLY’.
“But of him ARE YE IN CHRIST JESUS, who of God IS MADE UNTO US wisdom, and righteousness, and SANCTIFICATION, and redemption:” (1 Corinthians 1:30 KJV)
Small but powerful verse! In 1 Corinthians 1, we see that many were kinda arguing who is greater among them,
“Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius; Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.” (1 Cor. 1:12-15 KJV)
Even though Paul had been given such wisdom by God to preach the good news of the grace of God through Christ crucified, Paul in no way wanted to be known like this! Paul tells that not to do this. In fact, Paul lists his weakness and boasts of that instead, stating in verse 27, “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;” and in verse 29 that “no flesh should glory” in God’s presence. Paul is telling them, we are weak, but then we are strong because it is the Lord God that sanctifies us and sets us apart as a HOLY being. That is why Paul says “But of him are YE IN CHRIST” in verse 30. He is telling these believers that they may be saved because of Paul’s preaching but that he was only a conduit chosen by Christ to preach and that it is ALL GOD’s work making us saved , set apart and HOLY beings by belief in Christ crucified, died and risen, having paid for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2) !
Today we see churches actually calling their church ‘The Corinthians’, such as “Corinthian Baptist Church” as only an example name. Now I use this only as an example of many many church names that use the word ‘Corinthian’ in their name. Yet, in the Bible the Corinthians were one of the worst examples of a group of believers in how they were living outwardly! So much so, that Paul says they have even exceeded the sins of unbelieving Gentiles!
“It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.” (1 Corinthians 5 KJV)
So wicked, that Paul mentions fornication, where a son had sex with his father’s wife, and yet the church has done nothing about it! And mentions there are more sins that he cannot mention that are not even seen by gentile unbelievers!
Paul’s writings to the church at Corinth is actually a REBUKE to the way this body of BELIEVERS is living! Notice that Paul writes to them from the beginning and addresses them as eternally saved believers, even though they were committing such wickedness.
“Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that ARE SANCTIFIEDin Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both their’s and our’s: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who SHALL also confirm you UNTO THE END, that YE MAY BE BLAMELESS in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. GOD IS FAITHFUL, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:1-9 KJV)
Paul says that these Corinthian church members, ARE SANCTIFIED, as in are ALREADY sanctified. Not that, after Paul tells them to stop living outwardly so wrong that THEN they will be sanctified. NO. They are ALREADY sanctified, “in Crist Jesus”. And there is no one in IN CHRIST who has not been saved by BELIEF on Christ and HIS finished work on the cross. When a person accepts the GIFT of Salvation by God’s grace, Jesus Christ crucified, their Spirit of Man DIED with Christ on the cross, was buried with Christ and rose again WITH CHRIST in the Spirit. Many believing Christians, do not know that in the Spirit, they are ALREADY RISEN WITH CHRIST and IN CHRIST, right now, COMPLETE IN CHRIST! Read Colossians 2 and it will surely bless you my fellow believers in Christ!
Sanctification is not a lifelong pursuit. It is not us working to be more Holy. The truth is by Scripture that at the very moment of belief on Christ, WE WERE SANCTIFIED, WE WERE completely forgiven all our sins in our life (future sins too), WE WERE MADE BY GOD the righteousness of God, IN CHRIST.
You, my brother or sister in Christ, have been COMPLETELY and UTTERLY changed at the CORE of your being, in your Spirit, and made a NEW CREATION. A complete change in our core being from an UNRIGHTEOUS nature to a RIGHTEOUS nature.
There has been a change in you! Your feelings about it have NOTHING to do with this truth either!
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a NEW CREATURE: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become NEW. AND ALL THINGS ARE OF GOD, who hath reconciled us to himself BY JESUS CHRIST, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, NOT IMPUTING their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN HIM.” (2 Corinthians 5:17-21 KJV)
There WAS (past tense) a HUGE EXCHANGE made when a person believes on Christ and His blood sacrifice for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2) All believers from all of time, were placed on that cross with Christ and the “wages of sin”, which is DEATH (Romans 6:23), happened. The full penalty for sin was PAID IN FULL, a debt we could not repay. BUT ALSO, and this is what many believers today may not know, when Jesus paid for our sins, He also gave us HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS! Jesus knew no sin and yet God imputed our sins to Christ and then imputed Christ’s righteousness to us!
NOW THAT IS SANCTIFICATION! THAT IS GOD SETTING US APART FOR HIMSELF!
Must believers ‘Endure until the end’ to remain saved based on Matthew 24:13?
“But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. ” (Matthew 24:13 KJV)
I know many Christians believe that iof they do not endure to the end that they may lose their Salvation because many pulpits misuse this one verse in Matthew 24. Yet, using proper context, that is not correct from Scripture!
Notice that there are many passages of Scripture that state the opposite and that it is God ALONE who does the work of saving, securing, and keeping believers saved eternally.
In John 6:39, Christ states that He will not lose any saint.
“And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. ” ( John 6:39 KJV)
In John 10:28-29, it is Christ and the Father who promises to keep believers eternally saved and will never let go; not believers who hold onto God and keep themselves saved by any works we do.
“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” (John 10:28-29 KJV)
In John 17:12, it is Christ and the Father who do the keeping. And ‘none of them is lost’.
“While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. ” (John 17:12 KJV)
In Romans 4:5 Paul writes,
“But to him that WORKETH NOT, BELIEVETH ON HIM that justifieth the ungodly, HIS FAITH is counted for righteousness.” (Romans 4:5 KJV)
God IMPUTED our sin to Christ, and Christ’s righteousness to us and GOD MADE US, the righteousness of God, in Christ.
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” ( 2 Cor. 5:17-22 KJV)
Paul states in Colossians 2 that this was done without our hands but that we are COMPLETE in Christ (present tense) by the operation of God; not by us.
“For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And YE ARE COMPLETE IN HIM, which is the head of all principality and power: In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision MADE WITHOUT HANDS, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried WITH HIM in baptism, wherein also ye are risen WITH HIM through the faith OF THE OPERATION OF GOD, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together WITH HIM, having forgiven you ALL trespasses; BLOTTING OUT the handwriting of ordinances that WAS against us, which WAS contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to HIS CROSS; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” (Colossians 2: 9-15 KJV)
So many more Scriptures seemingly in contradiction to believers having to endure to the end to remain saved! And whenever we discover a contradiction in Scripture it means we missed proper context somehow. The many verses in proper context over rule any opposing view regarding Salvation.
“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: “: (Matthew 24:29 KJV)
I personally have come to believe that, by reading the words in Matthew 24 and especially verse 29, it shows it is all about the coming Tribulation Period where in the beginning of the Antichrist rule it will seem peaceful but warning signs will be happening and eventually the Antichrist will show his true evil colours. The Tribulation Period starts at the END of our current church age. So Matthew 24 and 25 are addressing the Jews of that future time period. This is the proper context of Matthew 24 and it makes all the difference in the world to the meaning of ‘endure to the end’. The END here is the END of the Tribulation period!
In fact, if we look not many verses later, at Matthew 24:22, we can see that the ‘enduring’ in verse 13 is referring to the physical state of the person under persecution of the Antichrist; not Spiritual salvation. Physically saved from Antichrist’s persecution.
“And except THOSE DAYS should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. ” (Matthew 24:22 KJV)
What days? The days within the Tribulation period, during the Antichrst’s rule on Earth, where God’s judgment is falling upon the Earth and the Antichrist is persecuting believers and all who do not take the Mark of the Beast (Rev. 13:17 KJV).
That is the true context of enduring in Matthew 24.
“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. ” (Ecclesiastes 12:13 KJV)
Some are teaching that it is our Works that will determine if we gain entrance to Heaven or hell based on this one verse and it is very wrong.
Point 1: This is in the Old testament – not the new. That matters because today we live in the Age of God’s Grace, the CHURCH AGE. So there is a difference to this truth.
Point 2: Solomon was seeking wisdom through pleasure from a HUMAN perspective. Solomon concludes that from a human perspective, life has no meaning or even purpose. He has come to the conclusion that IT IS ALL VAIN.
Verse 13 and 14 is his conclusion of his experiment in seeking pleasure for wisdom and he even states this, “13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” (Eccles 12:13-14)
Solomon was Living under the Law and he has come to an end of himself and concludes that anything he does is vain and that they all need God. To fear God in reverence of the fact that we cannot do anything to save ourselves really. Pleasure seeking is in the end not fulfilling. And that, we should be living in respect of God and with good works of the Law, which he was living under.
Today, we live under the New Covenant of God’s GRACE through the finished work of Jesus Christ crucified and risen. The New Covenant of God’s Grace has replaced the Old Covenant Law following. Under the New Covenant,
The law functioned in God’s purpose as a temporary covenant from Moses till John the Baptist announced Christ. (Galatians 3:16 & 19, Matthew 11:12-13, Luke 16:16)
Christians are dead to the law. (Galatians 2:19)
The law frustrates grace. (Galatians 2:21)
The law was a curse that Christ redeemed us from. (Galatians 3:13)
The law brings wrath upon those who follow it. (Romans 4:15)
The purpose of the law was to increase sin. (Romans 5:20)
Christians are not under the law. (Romans 6:14)
Christians have been delivered from the law. (Romans 7:1-6)
The law makes you sinful beyond measure. (Romans 7:13)
The law is fading away. (2 Corinthians 3:11)
We cannot ignore these verses.
Under this New Covenant, believers will be judged for their works and so Solomon was right that we all will be judged by our works. Yet, differently depending on belief or unbelief in Christ.
For unbelievers… this is judgement at the Great White Throne judgement of unbelievers. The rejected the gift of Salvation that Christ provided paying for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2) and so Christ’s righteousness was never IMPUTED to them by God due to their rejection of the GIFT OF SALVATION. And so, their sins remain unpaid and they have chosen to pay for their own sins because they think their works are good enough.. but they are not! (Matthew 7:23)
But for believers in Christ… at our bodily resurrection we will stand before the Bema Judgement Seat of Believers by Christ (1 Cor. 3). This is NOT the Great White Throne Judgement. Our works will be judged, but not for Salvation or condemnation to hell like the Great White Throne judgment of unbelievers. Believers in Christ will be judged of their works AFTER their moment of conversion in belief of Christ for righteousness and will determine ETERNAL REWARDS.
And even those found at this judgment who have no rewards are still eternal saved in Heaven (1 Cor. 3:15). The word SIN is not even mentioned when Paul describes the Bema seat judgement of believers. Why? Because the sins of the whole world were paid for by Christ on the cross (1 John 2:2) and whosoever believeth on Christ is born again in the Spirit (John 3:14-18, 2 Cor. 5:17-21, Eph. 1:13-14, Colossians 2).
God will not condemn a believer to hell because of their works because Salvation is not by works in any manner (Ephesians 2:8-9). We cannot boast about how we are saved because Christ paid it all.
“If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” (John 14:14 KJV)
Reading this one verse out of the proper context of all John chapter 14, some believe Jesus is promising to give us any and all we want just by invoking His name. That is very wrong teaching! It is very wrong believing. Let’s look at more surrounding context to see the true meaning.The previous chapter is the context of the subject in chapter 14. In chapter 13 is the Last Supper and Judas goes off to betray Jesus. Jesus’ time of the passion has come and His suffering and eventually the cross. Jesus foretold the disciples He would be persecuted and put to death and rise again earlier.And Peter is very worried now, as are the others. Jesus knows what will happen to the disciples through this ordeal about to begin and in chapter 14 is talking about them coming under persecution. Chapter 14 starts with,
“Let not your heart BE TROUBLED: ye believe in God, believe also in me.” (John 14:1 KJV)
Look how Jesus loves them even in the very face of His passion events about to unfold.
Jesus does not say, nor mean, ‘ask anything from me and I will do it’. In verse 14, Jesus specifically states “…ask any thing in my name”. This has a totally different meaning.
So I ask you, would anything against the will of God be granted in Jesus’ name? No. Only what God’s will is for us. Jesus is about to suffer and die. That is God’s will to save us. And He is encouraging the disciples to believe on Christ and continue in His name as they soon face hardships in persecution. Jesus is talking to them as ambassadors of Christ, speaking and living in His physical absence as He is about to die on the cross.
In the last verse of chapter 13, Jesus tells Peter he will even deny knowing Christ three times. An analogy, though paling in comparison to the passion of Christ, shows the true meaning of John 14:14 and ‘in Jesus’ name’. Did you ever watch a TV show and a police officer is running after a store robber and yells out, “Stop in the name of the law!” ? The officer does not yell out to ‘stop in my personal name’. The officer acts on behalf of the government as an ambassador for the city government. He is to follow government laws in his job and the task at hand, which includes protecting others. The government GRANTS HIM certain authoritative powers to do their jobs ‘in the name of the government and it’s power’. Now can a police officer go and do whatever ‘they will’ in the name of the government? NO! They can only work by the will of the government with it’s rules and regulations right? They do their jobs in the name of the authority and will of the government; in their name.
That is the truth of John 14:14. If we ask anything in the name of Jesus, as an ambassador of Jesus, and so in the will of Jesus, in His physical absence He will do it. He will still be with them!
Jesus continues in John 17 and prays for the disciples to the Father, and us also as believers and ambassadors with great encouragement. Read it. It is so amazing a prayer for us by Jesus to the Father! A prayer that WILL be answered!
In the Gospel of Grace Jesus gave to Paul to teach the Gentiles (you and me today!), he also talks about believers being ambassadors for Christ to the world. That from the moment we believed on Christ that our Spirit was reborn in the very righteousness of God, IN CHRIST, and that we become ambassadors for Christ because Christ lives and works through us.
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
Now then WE ARE AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:17-21 KJV)
Using proper context is so very important and gives us greater discernment against false teaching. Always be suspicious of a teaching based on one verse out of the context it was written. Even if being falsely taught in a pulpit.
“2 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,3 And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. 4 Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. 5 But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: 6 And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. 7 But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. 8 Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. 9 Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. 10 So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. 11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: 12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. 13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:2-14 KJV)
Trying to enter Heaven without actually being saved means not having the garment. God chose the nation Israel as His chosen people from the beginning. God announces to them that there will be a Messiah to come that will pay for the sins as the final sacrifice to replace the sacrificial system of the Law. The Pharisees knew this, that is why they sought to kill Jesus for blasphemy stating He is the Messiah foretold.Even after all the miracles and all the prophecies Jesus was fulfilling that identified Him as this very Messiah they believed would one day come, they just refused to believe it was Jesus.
Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees who believed because they were Jewish, and they relied on the fact that God gave Moses the Law, and that believed on their self righteous works to save them. But Jesus comes and starts telling them WRONG. Salvation is not by good works nor because they are Jewish. Jesus tells them He is the Messiah that was to come.We Jesus do this from the very beginning of His ministry at the Synagogue in His home town of Nazareth. Everyone knew Jesus as ‘the Carpenters son’. They sought to stone Him for reading the prophesy about Messiah in the Synagogue and then proclaiming HE WAS THIS MESSIAH NOW COME! (Luke 4:16-21)
The mistreated slaves in the parable in Matthew 22 are the disciples who would one day become Apostles. The very people God chose, the Jews, from the beginning rejected Jesus as Messiah and started persecuting Christians and the Disciples. Christ came and preached to who? The nation Israel – the Jews. In essence, God sent Jesus and prepared a marriage to all those who will believe in Him for righteousness. He was sent to God’s chosen people first, the Jews. What did they do? They mostly rejected Christ. In unbelief the unbelieving Jews did not receive the garment of Salvation through BELIEF ON CHRIST ALONE (John 3:14-18, 6:37-40). In unbelief, the Jews crucified Jesus, The Christ, their own Messiah. God was angered and so he set their cities on fire. That happened in 70 AD after Christ was crucified.
And then God now sends out the marriage invitation to the GENTILES. Non Jews. Now no longer just to the Jews.. but to the MAIN HIGHWAYS.. to EVERYONE. And Gentiles are all of us today. We see later , after Christ is ascended that He sent Apostle Paul to preach the New Covenant of Grace which until then was a mystery. And many of them will come (and still are coming to Christ today) to belief and attend the marriage celebration which will happen after the Rapture of the church, the Bride of Christ.
But anyone that comes to God by any means other than through belief on Christ, will not be allowed. Good works does not give them the wedding garment. They are not saved. They have no GARMENT of Salvation.This person could not even explain WHY he has no garment nor how to get one.
Who are the CHOSEN? All who have accepted and belief on Christ for Salvation. They are the chosen. They have been given the garment of eternal life, in Christ.
The story of the rich man and Lazarus after they died is found in Luke 16. Jesus talks about the place a person’s Spirit goes after physical death prior to Jesus dying on the cross; that is prior to the New Covenant. Prior to Christ’s physical death on the cross. Some teach that this is only a parable but no other parable uses specific names as Jesus describes here. Jesus is explaining an incident.
This place is called HADES in the Greek and is a holding place for human Spirits separated from the body at death. Hades has 2 container areas separated by a great chasm/divide.
One side is called ‘paradise’(Abraham’s Bosom) where Old Testament believers, went at physical death. This is the place Jesus said to the thief on the cross who ended up believing on Christ for Salvation went at his death as Jesus promised.
“And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:42-43 KJV)
The other side of Hades is called called ‘torments’, where the unbeliever’s Spirit of Man went, and still goes today, at physical death. Those in this container are headed for the Great White Throne Judgment of the unsaved as described in the book of Revelation. We see Jesus state that at this judgement seat,
“And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.” (Rev. 20:14 KJV)
The word ‘hell’ in this verse in the Greek is ‘Hades‘; this very holding place of all the Spirits of the unredeemed dead. Before Christ, and before His death and resurrection as the final once for all sacrifice (Hebrews 10:10) for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2), believer’s sins were only temporarily covered, year to year, as they looked toward the Messiah to come (Hebrews 10). Jesus had not yet completed His sacrifice and so ‘paradise’ was a holding place for Old Testament believer’s Spirits until Christ came.
Heaven is a perfect place without sin. Only perfection may enter. Now that Jesus came and fulfilled the final sacrifice for sins, believers today are immediately from the moment of belief on Christ, born again in the Spirit (John 3) and eternally sealed in Salvation (Eph. 1:13-14), recreated in the Spirit as the righteousness of God, in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17-21). Complete in Christ and already risen with Christ (Colossians 2) . And seated with Christ (Eph. 2:6). All in the present tense!
So when a believer in Christ dies physically today, only their Spirit is with Christ. It is fully redeemed, right now! It is IN CHRIST, yet still tethered to our physical body, our ‘tabernacle’ , our ‘tent’.
However, our body is not yet resurrected, still corrupted by this THING called sin. The body cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. It is still corrupt and stays behind at physical death; one day to also be resurrected either to Heaven at the Bema judgement seat of believers or the Lake Of Fire at the Great White Throne judgement.
When Christ ascended He took those waiting in Paradise to heaven with Him. He finally could because the final sacrifice for sins was PAID IN FULL in the cross.
“Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)” (Ephesians 4:8-10 KJV)
Today, living in the New Covenant dispensation, the age of God’s Grace, a believer’s Spirit is SEATED WITH CHRIST. The ‘paradise’ side of Hades is empty.
Yet the ‘torments’ side in Hades keeps being filled with the Spirits of the unsaved dead. Reserved until bodily resurrected for eternal damnation at the Great White Throne Judgement.
Do not end up in ‘torments’ nor the Lake Of Fire. Jesus paid for your sins! But you have free will to accept or reject the gift He paid for (Eph. 2:8-9) by belief or unbelief.
Jesus says you must be born again in the present by accepting the gift of Salvation THROUGH BELIEF ON HIM; NOT BY GOOD WORKS NOR BY BEING A GOOD PERSON.
“…whosoever BELIEVETH IN HIM should not perish, but HAVE eternal life.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever BELIEVETH IN HIM should not perish, but HAVE everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world THROUGH HIM might be saved.
He that BELIEVETH ON HIM is not condemned: but he that BELIEVETH NOT is condemned ALREADY, because he hath NOT BELIEVED in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:15-18 KJV)
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, RIGHTLY DIVIDING the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15 KJV)
Apostle Paul did not state.. “rightly believing” the truth. Nor did He say “rightly living” the truth.
This verse is VERY important. Believer, we must get this! In fact, not understanding this is the very reason why there are so many Christians believing falsely about Salvation and Justification with God.
You see, all the Bible is truth. All the Bible is for us. However, not all the Bible is addressed directly to us, living in our current dispensation of the Age of God’s Grace.
One example is, when you see a “seemingly” contradiction in the Bible between Scriptures before the cross and Scriptures after the event of the cross (not just Old Testament/New Testament. The New Covenant starts at the cross, not in Matthew 1.) ; that is a sign that they are addressed to Different Dispensations.
Another Example is rightly dividing between Scriptures addressed us in this dispensation we live in and the new dispensation that starts at the Rapture of the church.
There Is Only One Gospel; Belief On The Messiah, The Foretold Christ
Let me be crystal clear about this. There are some teaching Bible dispensations as if the way to heaven is different before and after the cross. That before the cross works were a requirement of salvation and after the cross works were not a requirement. That is not what I am talking about when I mention Dispensations. There is only ONE GOSPEL in both the Old and New Testament. There are differences though in how the Holy Spirit relates to us in these different dispensations.
OLD TESTAMENT BELIEVERS
Old Testament believers looked forward to a coming promised Messiah who would be a final payment for sins. But because Christ had not come, those living under the Law of Moses had to make an animal sacrifice of an ‘unblemished’ animal as a temporary covering of their sins until Messiah came (Hebrews 9 and 10). The Holy Spirit was UPON BELIEVERS of the foretold Messiah, but were not indwelled and sealed as Church Age believers are today. They looked forward to the day when The Messiah would come and eradicate sin forever. This belief did not mean they were immediately indwelt by the Holy Spirit, though the Holy Spirit was UPON THEM.
King David himself prayed that God would not take the Holy Spirit from him following his sin with Bathsheba as we read in Psalm 51:11. This is showing that even they did not believe so. To them, they never even knew about the Holy Spirit indwelling a person and becoming one with God as Jesus prayed in John 17.
Old Testament believers were never promised that the Holy Spirit would be sealed within them as a guarantee of their eternal destiny in Heaven. They needed to keep believing that the Messiah would come and be the final sacrifice for all sin. That by doing animal sacrifices they are covered until the Messiah will come and accomplish it.
CHURCH AGE BELIEVERS (The Bride Of Christ)
In the dispensation of grace we now live within (The Church Age between the cross and Pre-Tribulation Rapture), the Holy Spirit indwells and seals a person from the moment of belief on Christ (Eph. 1:13-14) and His blood atonement for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2) and His rising from death (1 Cor. 15:1-4, Colossians 2). This belief seals a person and is our ‘earnest’ which means it guarantees our eternal destinyin Heaven. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is unique to The Bride of Christ (Church Age believers in Christ).
TRIBULATION PERIOD BELIEVERS
Israel, the Jewish people, as a group, have still not accepted Jesus as Messiah. They are still looking for the Messiah to come and unfortunately when Antichrist comes to power, many will believe he is the Messiah come. Yes, some Jewish people have come to salvation in Christ just as in the early church and to this day. Jew or gentile, a believer in Christ is saved and indwelt by the Holy Spirit in the Church Age (Galatians 3:28). But Israel as a nation/group have not been indwelt by the Holy Spirit.
Once Church Age believers are Pre-Tribulation Raptured, all left on Earth are unbelievers. I cannot find Scripture that makes an eternal security promise by an indwelling Holy Spirit for Tribulation believers. Scripture indicates that those who come to believe that Jesus, and not the Antichrist, is Messiah and who reject worshiping the Antichrist with the Mark of the beast must ‘endure until the end’. Endure how? Endure Antichrist persecution while not taking the mark, without which no one will be able to buy nor sell. This enduring is enduring in belief because they do not have the sealed indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will work as in Old Testament times, ‘UPON THEM’ , not sealed within them. The indwelling Holy Spirit will have already left when the Church Age believers were Raptured before the Tribulation Period starts.
APOSTLE PAUL TAUGHT DISPENSATIONS IN THE BIBLE
Timothy was a very close person in Paul’s ministry. So close he refers to him as a son, though he was not a real son. Timothy was running the church in Ephesus and it seems that there were problems in that church because of false teachers creeping in. They seem to be the Judiazers just as we see in Galatians. These false teachers were mixing the grace of God with Law keeping as an added requirement for salvation. It is a false teaching that Paul fought hard against in Galatians. We see Paul write this,
“Thou therefore, my son, be strong in THE GRACE that is in Christ Jesus…Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David WAS RAISED from the dead according to MY GOSPEL…Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, RIGHTLY DIVIDING the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2 KJV)
Paul wrote about being strong in the -GRACE- that is in Christ Jesus. That Jesus -WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD-! The Judiazers were teaching more than this grace was required to be saved and that following the Law was also required; a very wrong teaching, as it is wrong today as well. A very dangerous teaching. False salvation teaching!
Paul also writes something that so many believers today have not grasped. Paul wrote “MY GOSPEL”. We know that after the Jews rejected Christ, that they refused again and a while after Jesus rose again we see that the Jews stoned Stephen. Saul of Tarsus was there, the chief persecutor of Christians at that time. Christians greatly feared this man. The Apostles continued to preached to the Jewish people in the early church under great persecution but after the stoning of Stephen, we see God put Israel aside and sent Apostle Paul to the Gentiles (non Jews). Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus had an encounter with the risen Jesus and He believed and became a Christian himself! It is very much like God to send the biggest persecutor of Christians (Saul of Tarsus) to save the gentiles! Why? God is showing us the new -Gospel of GRACE- Through Christ Crucified and rose again. It is the same Gospel of belief on the Messiah but there is something different about it because Christ has already come and died on the cross. Jesus already paid for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2). On the road to Damascus, Paul meets the risen Christ and believes the truth and from this conversion is sent to save the Gentiles. And that includes you and me today!
A New Dispensation began that the Jewish people failed to recognize was going to start. They knew about Daniel’s prophecy of 70 weeks. They mostly knew that they were living at the end of the 69th week as well which is why the Jews were looking for their Messiah. Many felt like it was not the right time because nothing seemed to be happening except being ruled under the harsh Roman Empire. They were living under bondage of the Roman Empire and were looking for the Messiah to come and start Daniel’s 70th week, after which the Kingdom Age would start. This is the Kingdom the Jews sought after. It is the only Kingdom they knew about. But they failed to understand that Daniel’s prophecy stated that the Messiah would be cut off. This happened when the Jews, rejected Jesus as Messiah and crucified Him. This event did not take God by surprise! He foretold to them that it would happen through Daniels prophecy right?
When Paul started this new Gospel message, to the Jews, we see Paul calling it MY GOSPEL. Eventually he met with Apostle Peter and they agreed that Paul was sent by God. The Apostles agreed that they would continue to preach to Israel, the Jewish peoples, and Paul would preach to the Jews, but mostly to the gentiles. So what was different in the message? Why does Paul call it MY GOSPEL?
Those living under the Law before the event of the cross, never heard about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. They never heard such a thing and did not understand that. They never heard about human beings becoming one with God through and in Christ (John 17, Colossians 2). What they knew is that animal sacrifices were needed to cover the sins of the people UNTIL Messiah came to be the final sacrifice for sin. These animal sacrifices never paid for their sins, and it was only a temporary covering for their sin as they looked forward to the coming of the Messiah. They were to follow the Law of Moses, the Ten commandments and the Levitical laws which equate to 613 Laws. And animals without blemish had to be sacrificed.
“But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins EVERY YEAR. For it is NOT POSSIBLE that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but A BODY THOU HAST PREPARED ME: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.” (Hebrews 10:3-6 KJV)
That is why when Jesus died on the cross and paid for the sin of the whole world the Bible says He SAT DOWN. It was FINISHED! He became the final, once for all, blood sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.
“By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ ONCE FOR ALL. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which CAN NEVER take away sins: But this man, after he had offered ONE SACRIFICE FOR SINS FOR EVER, SAT DOWN on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For BY ONE OFFERING HE HATH PERFECTED FRO EVER them that ARE sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:10-14 KJV)
And what do we see today in the large major of, so called, Christian religious organizations and denominations? Still preaching condemnation to BELIEVERS! Still preaching they must have more good works than bad works to be saved. That a person can lose salvation because of their works and deeds. It is all the same FALSE TEACHINGS of the Judiazers my brothers and sisters in Christ. Do not be fooled! Christ paid it all! Apostle Paul,
“For BY GRACE are ye saved THROUGH FAITH; and that NOT OF YOURSELVES: it is the GIFT OF GOD: NOT OF WORKS, lest any man should boast. For we are HIS WORKMANSHIP, CREATED In CHRIST JESUS UNTO good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10 KJV)
Whenever Paul mentions Jesus as ‘Christ Jesus’ it is speaking about the crucified Christ, and how He paid for the sins of the world on the cross. Paul also shows here that those teaching that works are required to become saved or remain saved are actually BOASTING in THEMSELVES and not the finished work of Christ! God forbid it brothers and sisters in Christ! Do not fall for this lie of ‘works for salvation’. It will only bring people to hell in the end; lost forever. Jesus
warned sternly about this in Matthew 7:22-23 and Paul in Galatians.
NO ONE was able to keep every Law and the animal sacrifices covered their sins before Jesus came. Only Jesus did that as God in a human body.They looked forward to the Bible prophecies that one day there would be a FINAL Messiah who would save all the people. Jesus is that Messiah. When He finally came, He preached that to be saved, they needed to believe He is the foretold Messiah. We see this in John 3:56 and 14-18. At the time, Christ had not yet gone to the cross and was living under The Law. Jesus fulfilled ALL THE LAW and that required water baptism. This is why John the Baptist used water baptism UNTO salvation. Not FOR salvation. John the Baptist said,
“I indeed baptize you WITH WATER UNTO REPENTANCE but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you WITH THE HOLY GHOST, and with fire:”(Matthew 3:11 KJV)
Today we are baptized by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit indwells a believer from the very moment of belief on Christ as the Messiah and Christ who paid for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2) with His once for all final blood atonement on the cross (Hebrews 10:10).
“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also AFTER THAT YE BELIEVED, YE WERE SEALED with that HOLY SPIRIT Of PROMISE, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:13-14 KJV)
The ‘purchased possession’ is our bodily resurrection when Christ will come and Rapture all believers from our current dispensation of grace. And so, this verse means for ever. A believer is forever SEALED IN CHRIST from the very moment we believe on Christ and His finished work on the cross, rising again. In Colossians 2, we see what really happened on the cross that the Jews did not see nor understand.
“And YE ARE COMPLETE –IN HIM–, which is the head of all principality and power: In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried WITH HIM in baptism, wherein also YE ARE RISEN WITH HIM through the faith of the operation OF GOD, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, HATH HE quickened together WITH HIM, having forgiven you ALL trespasses; BLOTTING OUT the handwriting of ordinances that WAS against us, which WAS contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to HIS CROSS;” (Colossians 2 KJV)
This is the difference. When Paul writes, MY GOSPEL, it is the Gospel Jesus sent Paul to preach to those living in this new dispensation of grace that we now live within. The perspective has changed because the Messiah came already. Jesus was the final blood sacrifice and “…there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins…” (Hebrews 10:26) except to believe. That is the wilful sin the writer of Hebrews was talking about; the sin of unbelief and adding the Law to what Christ already accomplished and completed on the cross. Jesus paid for ALL the sins of the whole world.
The Jews never had the indwelling Holy Spirit before Jesus came. Once Jesus came, something changed! The indwelling Holy Spirit is only for the dispensation of grace that we live within today. Jesus is gathering from this dispensation a special group of people who He calls His Bride. We see Jesus telling Nicodemus that the requirement for the Jews to be saved now is “Whosoever believeth in Him” as the foretold Messiah.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:16-18 KJV)
Notice that nothing else is mentioned. No Law of Moses following because the Law cannot save a person except for SHOWING THEM they have sin. No water baptism is required. Jesus was preparing the Jews for the soon coming Gospel of Grace Through Christ Crucified And Risen.
When the Messiah (Jesus) was ‘cut off’ God paused Daniel’s prophecy 70 weeks, right at the end of the 69th week. And then God turned to save the Gentiles and the new dispensation began which is the dispensation of grace as Paul wrote. In the dispensation of grace in which we live, a person is indwelt by the Holy Spirit from the moment of belief on Christ, sealed in salvation from the very moment of belief on Christ (Ephesians 1:13-14). Our salvation is not by our good works nor by Law following. Salvation is a GIFT to be accepted or rejected and as a gift it is never EARNED! That is the GOOD NEWS, the Gospel truth. Those who come to believe on Christ in this dispensation have become the Bride of Christ, in union with Christ forever.
Christ is one with the Father and the Father is one with Christ and the Holy Spirit (John 17). Believers today are IN CHRIST and so we are also one with the Father and Holy Spirit. Oh, if the Christian community today would embrace this great truth! What would we do for Christ IN US, the hope of glory!
“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” (Romans 6:14 KJV)
The English word ‘dominion’ here in the Greek is ‘kyrieuō‘ and is defined as ‘to rule over’. In essence, in today’s English would be the words ‘your master’.
Does that mean we will never sin as believers? No. But sinning will not be master over us. We have the Holy Spirit living within us to guide us into all truth and to CHANGE us by the renewing of our mind by the Word of God (Romans 12). It is an inward change in the MIND that happens over time and changes us on the inside, in our inner man. This change slowly works it’s way outward into our lives and affects others. We believe right by God’s Word and that expresses in our outward living because as we believe in the mind – is how we live.
What is it, according to Apostle Paul, that causes sin to not be master over us as believers anyway? Is it because we work so hard to not sin? NO , it does not say that. Is it because we obey the Law of Moses? No, it does not say that either.
Why will sin not be master over believers?
Because WE ARE NOT UNDER THE LAW BUT UNDER GRACE. Reading this verse backwards helps clarify what Paul is actually stating to us.
‘Under grace, we are Not Under The Law, and so sin is not our master.’
Do you see how clear this verse is? It is Law for justification with God or it is by God’s Grace through faith. It is NEVER mixing them together for righteousness.
Paul goes on to say even more about Law following verses Salvation by the Grace of God through Christ Jesus in Romans 7:
“But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.” (Romans 7:8 KJV)
What is this ‘concupiscence’? It is defined in the Greek as ‘lusts and desires’. So let’s replace the word so we can see exactly what Paul is meaning in this verse.
“But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of lustful desires. For without the law sin was dead.”
Paul is telling us that following the Law of Moses actually causes us to sin more! You see, that is the very purpose of the Ten Commandments; The Law. Here are other verses by Apostle Paul explaining this:
“Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall NO FLESH BE JUSTIFIED in his sight: for by the law is the KNOWLEDGE OF SIN.” (Romans 3:20 KJV)
“Moreover the law entered, that the offence MIGHT ABOUND. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:” (Romans 5:20)
“The sting of death is sin; and the STRENGTH OF SIN IS THE LAW.”
(1 Corinthians 15:56 KJV)
Paul is clearly stating that the very STRENGTH of sinning is following the Law of Moses for justification. I ask you, does that somehow change after being saved by God’s grace? NO.
The Law and Ten Commandments as many know it by were given by God to bring the Jews to their knees in understanding that we CANNOT EVER justify ourselves nor make ourselves Holy in our own self righteous efforts. The Law is a mirror so we can see ourselves as God sees us; wretched sinners needing a Savior. The Law is meant to bring us to our knees and to cry out to God for mercy because only God can MAKE us Holy.
YES! The Ten Commandments are true and they are still valid as God’s Holy standard. Yet, Paul tells us that following them will NOT make you Holy nor give you favor or justification with God. And after Salvation, following the Law will not make you any more Holy than God has already made a believer – the very righteousness of God, in Christ by faith, complete in Him (see 1 Corinthians 5:17-21, Colossians 2).
Only by belief in the Son of God, who is God in the flesh, Jesus The Christ, who never sinned in thought nor deed, who willingly died on the cross and shed His blood to pay for the sins of the WHOLE WORLD (1 John 2:2) and then rose again; through this belief is a person justified with God. (John 3:18, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4)
Salvation is a gift to be received or rejected. After accepting it – we are NOT KEPT SAVED by our performance or Law keeping to RETAIN righteousness. Should we not murder steal etc. Of course, we should not do these things. But our new source is the indwelling Holy Spirit who also guides us to not do such things. Our old self is DEAD and we are now a NEW SELF – a NEW Spirit if God at the very core of our being.
In Galatians, we see false teachers who crept into the church teaching that Law following was also a REQUIREMENT of justification with God. Does Paul agree? In fact, he strongly opposed this teach as false. Paul’s response to this is calling the Galatians ‘foolish’ and that such teachers are to be ‘accursed’ and that,
“Christ is become of NO EFFECT UNTO YOU, whosoever of you are justified BY THE LAW; ye are FALLEN FROM GRACE.” (Galatians 5: 4 KJV)
No effect unto you is not somewhere we should be as believers !
Do Not Mix Law and the Gospel of God’s Grace Through Jesus Christ. Doing so, is not Gospel and no salvation at all. Instead, it is the sin of pride, being boastful. We need to be humble.
