Category: religious tradition

Where Was God? #6

Thursday, September 19, 2013

“Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?” (Psalm 10:1 KJV).

One of the most common questions ever asked….

When God does not react to situations, especially tragedies, the way people expect Him, He is accused of being “negligent.” They consider how He visibly and directly intervened and rescued people from various dangers in Bible times. Since He does not do this today, people erroneously conclude that He must be unconcerned, that He is judging us for un-confessed sin, et cetera.

This outlook results from a rather simple error—a failure to approach the Bible dispensationally. We are not Israel, so by going to the Bible verses written to and about Israel in an attempt to discover what God is doing today with us, is simply a dangerous—and, quite frankly, satanic—method of handling the Scriptures. To ignore the verses written to us, and to “name and claim” the verses not written to us, is dishonest. We cannot make God do something He is not doing: He is not operating Israel’s program today.

God is not using extra-biblical methods (circumstances, angels, feelings, emotions, “visions,” et cetera) to reveal His will to us—we have God’s complete, written, and authoritative Word, the Holy King James Bible (Ephesians 1:9,10; Ephesians 3:4; 2 Timothy 3:15-17). Specifically, Jesus Christ is speaking to us through Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon, for those 13 Bible books are God’s Word written to and about us Gentiles (Romans 11:13; 1 Corinthians 14:37). Today, God is dispensing grace, not law (Romans 6:14,15). God is currently forming the Church the Body of Christ, not the nation Israel (Ephesians 2:13-22). Today, God is forming a heavenly people, not an earthly people (Ephesians 2:6,7).

In this the Dispensation of Grace, members of the Church the Body of Christ endured bodily sickness and other difficult circumstances (Romans 8:18-25; 2 Corinthians 11:22-30; 2 Corinthians 12:7,8; 2 Thessalonians 1:3-7; 1 Timothy 5:23; 2 Timothy 4:20). Rather than God removing those troubles, He gave those Christians strength, hope, and grace to bear them (Romans 8:24,25; 1 Corinthians 10:13; 2 Corinthians 12:9,10; Philippians 4:11-13). In Christ, we are equipped to endure “all things….”

Where Was God? #4

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

“Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?” (Psalm 10:1 KJV).

One of the most common questions ever asked….

People usually blame God for their problems. Beloved, God is not “out to get us”—Satan is! God offers us peace, joy, forgiveness, salvation, and righteousness in and through Jesus Christ. Satan’s policy of evil attempts to prevent us from ever learning God’s Word to us (which averts praise and glory the Lord Jesus receives when someone does hear and believe His Word).

Frankly, Satan desires to keep us ignorant of God’s Word to us—he prefers lost people to stay dead in their sins and continue on their way to hell (2 Corinthians 4:3,4) and he wants Christians to remain uninformed regarding God’s will for their lives (2 Corinthians 11:3,4). The devil’s primary method of hiding God’s truth is to use religious tradition and works-religion.

Hence, very few, even Christians, understand suffering from the perspective of the Holy Bible rightly divided. Every person suffers because of: (1) living in a fallen creation due to Adam’s sin, and (2) poor choices made in life—their choices and the choices of others. For the Christian, there is a third source of suffering—persecution for Jesus Christ’s sake. These three sources of suffering are all the result of sin and Satan’s policy of evil. While God does not remove these troubles, that does not mean that God is unconcerned with us.

In the context of today’s Scripture, the psalmist is prophetically speaking from the viewpoint of a believing Jew living during the (still future) seven-year Tribulation. As that believing Israeli witnesses the antichrist (“the man of the earth;” verse 18) slaughtering the Messianic Jews (who trust Jesus as Christ), and God permitting it, the perplexed soul asks in today’s Scripture, “Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?”

So, why does God does not prevent such tragedies? He is allowing mankind to “do his own thing,” to let man choose between following His plan for creation and participating in Satan’s policy of evil. God is thus laying the groundwork to cleanse and restore creation unto Himself….

Mercy and Not Sacrifice? #7

Thursday, September 12, 2013

“But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day” (Matthew 12:7,8 KJV).

What did our Lord mean in today’s Scripture?

The Pharisees, as well as other religious leaders of Israel, were not serving the LORD of the Old Testament Law that they studied. While they were highly educated and appeared good, they were not merciful toward the sick and hungry. They were sticklers for not working on the Sabbath day, and yet, they had no idea what the Sabbath day even represented. Blinded by their religious tradition, they preferred to see the hungry faint and the sick suffer, than even dare break the Sabbath!

Jesus told the Pharisees, “But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless” (today’s Scripture). The Pharisees’ heartlessness originated from a desire to serve a denominational system rather than let the love of the Lord Jesus Christ operate in their hearts and actions. The disciples were hungry, so Jesus Christ—the Person who authorized Sabbath-day observance—permitted them to pick food on the Sabbath. The Pharisees erred in presumptuously criticizing Christ’s disciples. They failed to realize that the JEHOVAH who had instituted the Sabbath-day observance, the “Lord of the sabbath day,” was Jesus Christ—the Person standing right in their midst!

One last interesting tidbit to conclude: In the companion passage of today’s Scripture, our King James Bible has the unique expression, “the second sabbath after the first” (Luke 6:1). That Sabbath of today’s Scripture loops back to the original (first) Sabbath of Genesis 2:1-3. The time of the fulfillment of the purpose of that original Sabbath—the establishment of God’s earthly kingdom—was near during Christ’s earthly ministry. Alas, the Pharisees failed to make that connection between those two Sabbaths. Religious tradition had caused them to ignore the God of the Sabbath, thereby causing them to be merciless and self-righteous for the sake of religion, and worst of all, they missed God’s kingdom altogether!

That is what our Lord meant in today’s Scripture.

Mercy and Not Sacrifice? #6

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

“But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day” (Matthew 12:7,8 KJV).

What did our Lord mean in today’s Scripture?

When Christ’s hungry disciples pick corn and eat it, the Pharisees become angry and complain that they have broken the Sabbath-day ordinance.

In verses 3-5, Christ wisely argued that although the shewbread was only meant for the priests to eat, David and his men were hungry and thus permitted to consume it (1 Samuel 21:1-6). Also, He argued, Moses—the Pharisees’ idol—said work on the Sabbath was acceptable if not working caused one to disobey other laws of God.

For instance, Israel’s priests had to perform Tabernacle and Temple duties, even on the Sabbath day. Another example is that the Jewish male baby had to be physically circumcised on the eighth day, even on the Sabbath day, or God wanted nothing to do with him (Genesis 17:10-14; Leviticus 12:3; John 7:22,23). A final example is that the Law commanded Jews to rescue their neighbors’ livestock trapped under burdens or fallen into pits, even on the Sabbath day (Exodus 23:5; Deuteronomy 22:4; Matthew 12:11,12; Luke 14:5; cf. Luke 13:15,16).

Israel’s spiritual condition during Jesus’s day is obvious. Satan, via vain religious tradition, has the Jews keeping laws for laws’ sakes! There is no faith in the Word of God; it is just mindless ceremonies, rites, and rituals. The same is true for much of Christendom today! There is no real hunger for souls and sound Bible doctrine; the emphasis is on experiences, entertainment, ceremonies, and regulations.

Whenever Jesus Christ healed the sick on the Sabbath day, the Pharisees were there forbidding it and criticizing Him. They would rather let sick people suffer than for Jesus to heal them on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:10; Mark 3:1-6; John 5:8-13; John 7:22,23). Jesus addressed their cruelty by telling them, “I will have mercy” (today’s Scripture). He addressed their faithless religious performance by telling them, “I will… not [have] sacrifice” (today’s Scripture). The Pharisees had no idea what Jesus meant anyway, for they were too blinded by sin and religious tradition….

Mercy and Not Sacrifice? #5

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

“But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day” (Matthew 12:7,8 KJV).

What did our Lord mean in today’s Scripture?

Christ’s disciples are hungry, so they pluck corn and eat it as they and Jesus pass through the fields (verse 1). The Pharisees, rather than being sympathetic toward these hungry believers in Christ, chastise them for “[doing] that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day” (verse 2). “Moses said not to work on the Sabbath Day, and Your disciples are disobeying Moses!”

Like the entire nation Israel, these religious leaders have lost sight of the God who gave them the Law through Moses. The Pharisees, the chief example of this hypocrisy, worshipped the Law instead of worshipping the God whom they were to worship using the Law!! Jesus frequently condemned this vain religious system during His earthly ministry (similar vain religion has plagued the Church the Body of Christ for the last 20 centuries!).

Christ twice-reminded these “educated,” conceited Pharisees of their ignorance of the Old Testament Scriptures: “But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; how he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?” (verses 3-5).

Jesus wisely argued that, although the shewbread was only meant for the priests to eat, David and his men were hungry and were permitted to consume it (1 Samuel 21:1-6). Furthermore, He argued that Moses’ inspired writings—“the law”—approved work on the Sabbath if not working caused one to disobey other laws of God. Remember, Israel’s priests had to perform Tabernacle and Temple duties, even on the Sabbath day.

Obviously, the Pharisees were so preoccupied with the Sabbath-day keeping that they overlooked the Sabbath-day meaning….

Biblical Stigmata

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

“From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus” (Galatians 6:17 KJV).

The Apostle Paul wrote in today’s Scripture that no one could deny his apostleship was of Jesus Christ, for he bore “in his body the marks of the Lord Jesus.” What were these “marks?”

Interestingly, the Greek word here translated “marks” is stigmata, which in English means “signs of disgrace or shame.” Understand that these stigmata which Paul suffered were Scriptural, and they involved shame and hatred, not awe and pride like the “stigmata” of religious tradition (wounds on one’s hands and feet superstitiously believed to be Christ’s scars, which leads to nothing more than pagan idolatry).

Notice what an apostle endured in Bible times: “For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised. Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace; and labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day” (1 Corinthians 4:9-13).

How many of today’s (self-proclaimed) “apostles” could write what Paul did in the above verses? Today, Christendom uses the title “apostle,” not to refer to those who have been directly commissioned and sent by Jesus Christ to travel abroad preaching the Gospel (which is the Biblical definition), but to those who have deceived themselves into believing they have a special “anointing” of God. In Paul’s day, “apostle” was a term of scorn and hatred; today, it is one of great fame and wealth.

Read 2 Corinthians 11:22-30, and notice the beatings, stonings, imprisonments, 195 (!) lashes, and other pains Paul suffered for the Gospel’s sake. How many are willing to endure that stigmata for Christ?

Who Is a Saint? #5

Friday, August 30, 2013

“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).

Behold, the identity that we Christians have in the Lord Jesus Christ!

In religion, “saints” are nothing more than intercessors who influence God to grant us favors. In Scripture, they are something else entirely. God—yea, God alone—creates saints through Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork (today’s Scripture). Saints are not for our selfish desires: they are for God to use to glorify His Son Jesus Christ forever and ever and ever.

Among other things, Jesus Christ is our “sanctification” (today’s Scripture). The writer of the book of Hebrews, when describing Israel’s salvation, used the same terminology the Apostle Paul utilized to refer to us, the Church the Body of Christ. “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all…. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified” (Hebrews 10:10,14; cf. Hebrews 13:12; 1 Peter 1:2; Jude 1).

Just as God will separate (sanctify) these believing Jews from the unsaved descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (like He separated Aaron and his sons from the common Israeli bloodline for service in the Levitical priesthood), so He has separated us from the ordinary human race. Just as He will redeem Israel from her sins and Satanic bondage using Jesus Christ’s shed blood (via the New Covenant; Hebrews 8:8-13), so He has bought us out of that slave market of sin and death (redemption; today’s Scripture).

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). In Christ, we have a new nature: we are a new type of mankind, the Church the Body of Christ, the “one new man” (Ephesians 2:15). All saints are equal in Jesus Christ—all Christians are in one body.

When God saved us, He not only delivered us from His wrath in everlasting hellfire, but He made us “saints” in Jesus Christ (today’s Scripture) to use us for His glory forever….

Who Is a Saint? #1

Monday, August 26, 2013

“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).

Behold, the identity that we Christians have in the Lord Jesus Christ!

Just as religion confuses us regarding the definition of “sinner,” it genders uncertainty as to what is a “saint.” Did you know that denominations disagree as to what a “saint” actually is? Must one die to be deemed a “saint?” Is it necessary to have two confirmed posthumous miracles demonstrating one’s intercessory work to God, before one can be recognized as a “saint?” Must one lead a sinless life to be a “saint?” Must one be “canonized” by a church hierarchy to become a “saint?” Should certain “saints” be revered more than others? These are important questions, and the Bible already declared their answers long before any church councils or church fathers offered fallible opinions.

The Lord Jesus Christ so clearly affirmed: “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (John 12:48).

As always, remember that the authority is not in church councils, denominational boards, creeds, assumptions, patristic writings, or preconceived notions. According to the Lord Jesus Himself, the Bible alone is the standard by which all will be judged one day. In the King James Bible, we English-speaking people have every word that the Almighty God of creation wants us to hear from Him. Jesus Christ will use that same text to judge our beliefs one day, so we had better learn what His Word says rather than appealing to the traditions of men!

Firstly, let it be understood that our English word “saint” is derived from the Old French saintifier (influenced later by sanctifier), from ecclesiastical Latin sanctificare, from Latin sanctus ‘holy.’ “Saint” in our New Testament is the Greek word hagios, meaning “holy” or “set apart.” In today’s Scripture, the Bible says that we who are in Jesus Christ are “sanctified,” set apart, holy, and are therefore “saints.”

Let us delve deeper into this doctrine….

In the Palm of Thy Hand

Sunday, August 25, 2013

“Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way” (Psalm 119:128 KJV).

Join the psalmist in esteeming the “precepts” of God preserved for thee in a Book that thou canst hold in the palm of thy hand….

The concept of our Creator God, Jesus Christ, is quite overwhelming. He is such a BIG God concerned about us, such tiny creatures who do everything we can to push Him and His will aside in favor of a “more intelligent” plan. To think that He would even bother to give His Word that was first preserved in heaven (Psalm 119:89) and form it into a book of human language that we could hold in our hands and study and read for ourselves, knowing full well the textual critics and denominationalists would immediately butcher it with their vain translational and hermeneutical methods, that they would greatly “wrest” (twist, corrupt) His Word. They have set themselves up for the day when they will stand before Him and be held accountable for their foolishness!

In today’s Scripture, the psalmist confessed: “Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way.” A “precept” is “a general rule intended to regulate behavior or thought.” In the verse previous, he declared: “Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold” (verse 127). Do we “esteem all [God’s] precepts concerning all things to be right,” or just the parts of Scripture that bolster our denominational system? Do we love God’s Word “above gold, above fine gold?”

Dear readers, may we never take our King James Bible for granted. History testifies to the fact that countless souls died to give us those precious and preserved Words of God. They did not die in vain, so let us not relinquish that golden text in favor of the feeble, tarnished hallucinations of seminarians, Bible skeptics, and others who rely on human wisdom to govern their worldview (the “false way” of today’s Scripture). May we “esteem” the Word in the palm of our hand, and value it in our hearts by believing it! 🙂

Who Is a Sinner? #6

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 KJV).

Behold, God’s standard of righteousness, of which we all fall short!

Returning to our earlier comments, religious people, whether they know it or not, have set themselves up for misery and disappointment (not including that which will come in eternity). The Bible so clearly declares in Galatians 3:10-13: “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written [Deuteronomy 27:26], Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith [Habakkuk 2:4]. And the law is not of faith: but [Leviticus 18:5], The man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written [Deuteronomy 21:23], Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:”

By virtue of the Mosaic Law, we are all “guilty before God” (Romans 3:19). No matter how hard we try, we cannot bring God praise by our performance, and we can never measure up to His glory. The Law “was weak through the flesh” (Romans 8:3): our flesh (that is, we in our resources and strength) cannot obey every single rule that demonstrates God’s holiness. The Law only condemns; it saves no one!

However, the good news is that Jesus Christ died on our behalf; He suffered God’s wrath against our sin by becoming “sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus Christ took God’s curse on us sinners, and He bore its weight on Calvary’s cross! When we trust alone in the shed blood, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, that perfect sacrifice reunites us with God, and we are declared “the righteousness of God” in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). As sinners, we qualify for God’s plan of salvation available only to sinners. By God’s abounding grace, we can be saved from the curse that our performance generates….