Category: human viewpoint / human wisdom / philosophy

Established Saints #1

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

“For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end that ye may be established; that is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith of you and me” (Romans 1:11,12 KJV).

Today’s Scripture is God’s will for every believer.

The Apostle Paul desired to come to Rome and see these saints many times, but he was “let [hindered] hitherto” (verse 13). He wanted to “impart unto [them] some spiritual gift.” His goal in doing so was to have them “established,” which is defined as “the mutual faith of [the Apostle Paul] and [them].”

The Holy Spirit through Paul is writing that He wants every believer to have a clear, firm understanding of the Pauline grace doctrine (Paul’s epistles of Romans through Philemon). God wants us to have the same understanding of His Word as the Apostle Paul did: What is God doing today? Forming the Church the Body of Christ. Why is He doing this? To have an agency He can use in the heavenly places in the ages to come, for His glory. How does the Christian life operate? By faith in sound grace Bible doctrine—not the Mosaic Law—which the Holy Ghost will use to transform the minds and lifestyles of believers.

As a dear brother in Christ says, “Your Christian life will not operate on the basis of ignorance!” Oftentimes, believers have such an extremely shallow understanding of Scripture that they are prone to be “tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine…” (Ephesians 4:14). Sadly, Satan’s religious system sweeps them away into serving a denomination, filling their minds with worthless “commandments and doctrines of men” (Colossians 2:22), and thus making their Christian life a “shipwreck” (1 Timothy 1:19).

Dear saints, God’s fervent desire, Paul’s fervent desire, and our fervent desire for you this year is that you be “established” in sound Pauline Bible doctrine—that you do not simply know about Paul’s ministry, message, and doctrine, but you also understand them and believe them. This will bring stability in your Christian life, and guard you against Satan’s deception in religion and philosophy.

Wilt Thou Serve the Denomination, Or the Lord? #5

Friday, December 7, 2012

“And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:23,24 KJV).

Beloved, we have a choice—we can serve a theological system (which is worthless), or we can serve the Lord (which is priceless).

Much of the last 2,000 years of “church history” is actually organization- and denomination-building. In the first century A.D., you were either a member of the Church the Body of Christ, or you were not. It was that simple. There were no Roman Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Jehovah’s Witness, Mormon, or Assemblies of God churches (we could list 38,000 others that man has developed since Bible days!). Those were all founded by man centuries after Jesus Christ founded Christianity using the Apostle Paul’s ministry.

Uncompromisingly, we remind you that if you are not following what Jesus Christ founded, then you are serving man! Today’s Scripture reminds, “Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.” In the context, we are exhorted not to work in order to be seen of others (“eyeservice”) or to be praised by others (“menpleasers”). Religion (denominationalism) encourages us to do just the opposite!

Christ rebuked Israel’s religious leaders: “But all their works they do for to be seen of men” (Matthew 23:5). “For a pretence [show] [they] make long prayers” (Mark 12:40). Religion is man’s attempt to approach God through his own efforts, generating self-righteousness. “Look at all the religious ceremonies in which I participate! Praise me!” The denomination announces it (“he walked the aisle” or “she got baptized”), and everyone praises the person’s “piety.”

Jewish religionists (legalists) had pressured the Galatians that they needed the rite of physical circumcision for soul salvation. Why? Paul wrote, “[They] desire to make a fair shew in the flesh… that they may glory [brag, boast] in your flesh” (Galatians 5:12,13). Paraphrased, “Notice our new converts, our new church members. Look what they did to further our religion [partook of the ceremony]!”

Again, this will profit us nothing in eternity….

Wilt Thou Serve the Denomination, Or the Lord? #4

Thursday, December 6, 2012

“And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:23,24 KJV).

Beloved, we have a choice—we can serve a theological system (which is worthless), or we can serve the Lord (which is priceless).

If we desire to know the Lord’s will for our lives, should we consult manmade “articles of confession” and “catechisms” published by denominations? No! It is only logical to find God’s will for our lives by reading the Book God wrote!

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable, for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16,17). Everything we will ever need to know about God’s plan for us is found in the Holy Bible. Found therein is everything that He has done for us, and everything that He purposes to do with us! When we grasp that information, we progress in spiritual maturity, and by faith, we “labour together with God” (1 Corinthians 3:9).

Satan knows God’s Word is effectual, that it accomplishes what God intends (Isaiah 55:11). So, to the devil’s delight, sinful man corrupted God’s Word by fabricating perverted Bible manuscripts, creating elaborate organizations instead of preaching the Gospel of Grace to perishing mankind, wrongly dividing the word of truth, and thus splintering into 38,000-plus denominations. These activities still distract lost people (and even Christians) from discovering God’s will and the clarity of His Word.

The Bible warns us: “Beware lest any man spoil [rob, cheat] you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” (Colossians 2:8). Doubtless, this refers to empty religious tradition, denominational doctrine which is “not after Christ.”

Let us walk by faith in an intelligent understanding of what God is doing today, Paul’s epistles Romans through Philemon, and not what some denomination is doing. After all, dear saints, serving a denomination will profit us nothing in eternity….

Wilt Thou Serve the Denomination, Or the Lord? #3

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

“And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:23,24 KJV).

Beloved, we have a choice—we can serve a theological system (which is worthless), or we can serve the Lord (which is priceless).

Almost all of the world’s two billion professing Christians attend and/or serve in a denominational church (over half in Roman Catholicism; just under half in Protestantism). Every denomination can be summarized with: “Dr. So-and-So” leads it, it prefers its own Bible translation and/or other literature, funds its own seminary or college, and promotes its own “programs” and “verses.” Can they all be right?! (No!)

Despite their godly façade, upon being queried regarding their authority, denominationalists mindlessly parrot their group’s unique, manmade “catechism” or “articles of confession.” All groups quote antithetical sources to support their beliefs and practices, and they all claim to be doing “God’s work.” Impossible! This is not Christianity, but Christendom (Christendumb). Denominationalists are blindly serving man, not the Lord.

Frankly, all denominationalism has ever done is divide and confuse, corrupting people who are already going to hell. “God is not the author of confusion” (1 Corinthians 14:33); therefore, God is not the author of denominations. These dear people shackled in religious duty claim to be following and serving Christ, but they have no idea what He is doing today. How can they be doing God’s will if they do not even know what God is doing? Impossible!

When the ascended and glorified Lord Jesus Christ first revealed Christianity to the Apostle Paul, He had no intention of giving us another set of rules, a list of programs, or a highly complex system of rites, rituals, and ceremonies. We sinners had enough trouble keeping TEN simple commandments!!! He had no intention of us serving and pleasing fellow man. He wanted to give us His life, so it would not be our performance in religion, but His performance in us! Thus, it is vain to follow a manmade system, for we should “serve the Lord Christ” (today’s Scripture).

Wilt Thou Serve the Denomination, Or the Lord? #2

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

“And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:23,24 KJV).

Beloved, we have a choice—we can serve a theological system (which is worthless), or we can serve the Lord (which is priceless).

When someone who is searching for the true and living God eventually does find out about Jesus Christ and trusts Him alone as personal Saviour, he or she then has a spiritual minefield to navigate. Deciding which denominational church to join is not as easy as it initially seems. After all, these 38,000-plus groups claim to be “Christ’s followers,” but they each teach something radically different. How will this poor Christian soul ever learn the truth? Which denomination, if any, is right?

Satan’s apostate religious system accomplishes exactly what he intended it to—it deters the Christian from serving the Lord. Soon, the person becomes loyal to the denomination and its (faulty) theology. Eventually, the issue is no longer, “What saith the scriptures?,” but “What saith the denomination, preacher, or statement of faith?”

We are not to serve man, nor seek to please him—we are to serve the Lord, not some (man-made) denomination! Today’s Scripture declares, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;….” Ephesians 6:6,7 confirm: “Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:”

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16,17). If we want to do God’s will in our lives—if we are to be “throughly furnished [equipped] unto all good works”—the complete revelation is within “all scripture.” “Scripture” (“writings”) restricts the authority to a Book, thus excluding popes, teachers, theological systems, preachers, and seminaries….

Aging Grace-fully

Friday, November 30, 2012

“For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16 KJV).

As the aging process degrades our physical bodies, let us allow God’s grace to “renew” our minds.

I just heard people share their anxiety about their aging physical bodies. They loathe their gray hairs, sagging skin, and wrinkles, and do whatever they can to “look younger.” They are not focusing on the things of eternal importance, for they probably never have trusted Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. All they think about is the here and now, failing to understand that there is more to life than this physical dimension.

In one recent year, Americans spent $10 billion (!) on cosmetic surgeries. These efforts to slow down and even reverse aging and its effects are futile. Death and elderliness will still come. Beloved, no matter what we do to these physical bodies, they will still age, and short of the Lord’s coming, they will die. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a). These are “vile bodies” affected by sin, and thus they must die (Philippians 3:21). They cannot enter heaven.

Thankfully, one day (the rapture), these physical bodies will be redeemed from death (Romans 8:23): we Christians will receive new bodies “eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1-5). As a dear brother in Christ always states, “In heaven, there will be no [from head to toe] baldness, bifocals, bridgework, bulges, and bunions!” Yes, we have those here, but be not depressed. We will not be here in this sin-cursed world forever. We are not bound forever in these limited (and weakening) bodies.

Today’s Scripture shows us that this physical body—the “outward man”—will ultimately die, and give way to a new glorified body. What we need to focus on is the “inward man,” our soul and spirit. We will leave these physical bodies behind, but we will take with us our spiritual bodies. When we daily study and believe the King James Bible rightly divided, it will “renew” and strengthen our souls, the bodies that count for eternity. And thus, we will age “grace-fully.” 🙂

Your Right to Eat Meat

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

“For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer” (1 Timothy 4:4,5 KJV).

Before we advocate animal rights, let us understand that we have a God-given right to eat them!

An animal rights activist recently appeared on television to complain about the consumption of turkeys on Thanksgiving. He argued that turkeys “feel pain” when they are slaughtered, and thus we should not eat them. His line of reasoning was, “If we would not eat our pet dog, then we should not eat turkey.” Such people, despite their sincerity, are ignorant of today’s Scripture.

Originally, all people and animals were herbivores; they only ate vegetation. “And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so” (Genesis 1:29,30).

Then, sin entered, and God incorporated meat into the human diet: “Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat” (Genesis 9:3,4).

When we ignore the fact that God gave us animals to eat, and we demand that others must also abstain from meat for religious (nature-worshipping) purposes, that is a “doctrine of devils” in this dispensation (1 Timothy 4:1-5). The creature should not be worshipped; only the Creator, the Lord Jesus Christ, should be worshipped (Romans 1:25). As long as we thank the Lord for whatever creatures we eat, consuming animal flesh is acceptable and godly. It does not sit well with the pantheists—who exalt nature as God—but it is approved of the living God, and that alone ultimately matters.

The Common People

Saturday, November 10, 2012

“…And the common people heard him gladly” (Mark 12:37 KJV).

Today’s Scripture makes it abundantly clear that God’s Word is for “the common people.”

Upon recently reading a seminarian’s “Bible” study article, I conclude that that was more of a Hebrew study. It left me, a Christian, with more questions than answers. (I can only wonder what confusion it brought to the poor lost souls who read it!)

Oftentimes, theology (mis)leads us to believe that we must go to school for 10 years to learn Koine Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and/or Aramaic, in order to fully grasp the Bible’s concepts. If God required that from us, hardly any of us could ever be saved, or even know God’s will in the first place!!

Contrariwise, God’s Word, the King James Bible, is for the common people. Its 54 faithful, Holy Spirit-filled men who translated it in 1611 knew the Bible languages. They purified and perfected the language of the existing English Bibles to provide us—the common people—with a Bible we could own and read personally (rather than it being chained to a church altar, or “shackled” in Rome’s Latin “bible”).

Notice in today’s Scripture how our Lord Jesus Christ spoke to the common people. He did not depend on the “educated” religious leaders to reach the common people (these “scholars” were too corrupt, and would have perverted His pure doctrine!). Observe what Christ told His Father: “In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight” (Luke 10:21).

Dear reader, the key to understanding the Bible is not a college or seminary education. If you have an ear to hear, an eye to see, and you are willing to study God’s Word and learn, the Holy Spirit will illuminate your mind: “Which things we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (1 Corinthians 2:13).

After all, the Bible is for the common people! 🙂

Arrayed in Hypocrisy

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity” (Matthew 23:27,28 KJV).

“Looks can be deceiving” is not only true during Halloweentime, but confirmed year-round within Christendom.

Today is Halloween, when children dress up and feign themselves to be creatures they are not. Likewise, many church leaders today wear “Christian” garbs, but their ministries do not bring the Lord Jesus Christ glory and honor. They promote their denomination, and seek to perpetuate it, rather than serve and exalt the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. The Bible manifests these who appear to be good, as “wolves in sheep’s clothing.”

In today’s Scripture, Jesus Christ exposed Israel’s corrupt religious leaders who misled the nation in His day. In His Parable of the Tares, Matthew 13:24-30,37-43, Christ explained how just as He had sown good seed (wheat, believing Jews) in Israel, Satan had also sown tares/weeds (unbelieving Jews). Tares resemble wheat; unbelieving Jews resemble believing Jews. The unbelieving Pharisees and scribes, for instance, looked like God’s people (believing Israel). Judas Iscariot was another example of Satan’s tares—the apostles never realized who Judas really was until it was too late!

But Satan’s counterfeit believers are not confined to Israel’s program. Today, within local assemblies of the Body of Christ, there are people feigning themselves to be Christians: For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).

Beloved, beware of the church leaders who are arrayed in hypocrisy, “and avoid them” (Romans 16:17b). If their teaching does not agree with the rightly divided King James Bible, you have no business as a child of God to be following them.

*This is excerpted from a larger Bible study with the same name. The Bible study can be read here or watched here.

Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing

Sunday, October 28, 2012

“For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock” (Acts 20:29 KJV).

Saints, let us be mindful that today’s Scripture is truer today than ever before.

In the context of today’s Scripture, the Apostle Paul is bidding the Ephesian church leaders farewell. He is determined to return to Jerusalem, unsure if the Jews will kill him there (verses 22,23). Paul warns these church leaders to “take heed therefore unto [themselves], and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made [them] overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood” (verse 28).

They need to be on guard, for in the next verse—today’s Scripture—he cautions them that false teachers will come in and spiritually devour these Christian leaders and their local assemblies. Satan’s ministers, denominationalists/religionists/legalists, will devastate the spiritual health of God’s people. They will come in from the outside world, and infiltrate the church with heresy so Christians become ineffective.

But, the subsequent verse says, “Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them” (verse 30). Not only will people outside the local church come in and deceive, there will be false teachers within the church (already doing the damage subtly and hypocritically). They claim “Jesus is Lord,” they talk about God’s love and grace, and some will even go so far as to agree with us by teaching the special ministry and gospel committed to the Apostle Paul’s trust. But, when you read the King James Bible for yourself, and compare their teaching to it, you realize that their ministry confirms today’s Scripture.

“With tears,” Paul warned the Ephesians for three years about false teaching (Acts 20:31). By the end of Paul’s ministry, several years after that warning in Acts chapter 20, Ephesus and the rest of Asia (Turkey) went into apostasy (2 Timothy 1:15). Dear saints, how we would STRONGLY URGE you to be very careful about what preacher, ministry, and/or church you follow. “Many corrupt the word of God” (2 Corinthians 2:17).