Category: religious tradition

The Flesh Straineth, Christ’s Love Constraineth #2

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

“For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:14,15 KJV).

We would do well to memorize, meditate on, and believe today’s Scripture, a wonderful encapsulation of the Christian life.

Religion is analogous to running on a treadmill—you had better keep moving or you will wipeout! There are literally billions of souls burdened, firmly shackled, by religious works. They strain to please God, hoping that He will accept their performance. Their religious system reassures them, “Just follow our instructions, and God will be happy with you and you will reach heaven.” What a devil’s lie, straight from hell!!

Unfortunately, not only are these lost people bound by religion, but many true Christians (those who have trusted Jesus Christ alone for salvation) believe they have to live the Christian life, that they must work to “keep fellowship with God.” Christendom abounds with this legalism: “If you want to receive God’s favor and blessings, you must give more, pray more, confess more, come to church more, quit doing ___ and start doing ___.” This flawed theology is derived from a failure to understand the Bible dispensationally.

Yes, God did deal with Israel via the Mosaic Law. He did instruct them to keep His commandments so they could receive His favor and blessings (Leviticus chapter 26; Deuteronomy chapter 28). However, our apostle, Paul, writes, in our Dispensation of Grace, “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:14). God is not dealing with us as He dealt with Israel in time past: we are under grace, not law. Attempting to follow Israel’s Law program will only cause sin to dominate us. God’s grace-based acceptance system involves us placing our faith in Paul’s epistles, letting Christ Jesus live His life in and through us, making our Christian life pleasing to God (today’s Scripture).

“The flesh straineth, Christ’s love constraineth….”

The Flesh Straineth, Christ’s Love Constraineth #1

Monday, September 10, 2012

“For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:14,15 KJV).

We would do well to memorize, meditate on, and believe today’s Scripture, a wonderful encapsulation of the Christian life.

On what basis does the Christian life operate? The average church replies, “By keeping the Ten Commandments.” While God’s Word explicitly maintains that the Mosaic Law is “holy, and just [right before God], and good” (Romans 7:12), there is a problem—we are incompatible with God’s Law because we are naturally unholy, unjust, and bad!

We can attempt to obey all Ten Commandments, but ultimately, we fail (sin) at some point. James 2:10 explains: “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” If we so much as break one commandment of God, we are guilty of breaking every commandment of God. Does that sound like the life God wants for us Christians? A life of constant failure and complete misery? Then why do so many churches emphasize this type of “Christian” living?

There was a time—“time past” (Ephesians 2:11)—when God instructed Israel to keep the Mosaic Law. He promised to bless them if they obeyed all of His laws, but He also swore that He would curse them if they refused to follow His laws (see Leviticus chapter 26 and Deuteronomy chapter 28). This was the religion of Judaism, a strict set of rules that governed every facet of the Jews’ daily behavior.

Dispensational Bible study (Pauline dispensationalism) enables us to see that God—in the “but now” (Ephesians 2:13)—has abolished Israel’s performance-based acceptance system (religion) and He has replaced it with His Christ-based acceptance system (grace). As we will discover, our performance is not the issue today—Christ’s performance is (today’s Scripture). Our performance is not the basis for our Christian life—Christ’s performance is (today’s Scripture).

“The flesh straineth, Christ’s love constraineth….”

Not in Vain

Saturday, September 8, 2012

“For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you, that it was not in vain” (1 Thessalonians 2:1 KJV).

The believers in Thessalonica demonstrate that ministry work for the Lord is not done in vain.

Paul and Silas, on Paul’s second apostolic journey, arrive in Thessalonica in Acts 17:1. Here, there are Judaistic Jews and Greeks (verse 1), people who have some comprehension of the Old Testament and the one true God. However, there are also pagan Gentiles, individuals who later “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (1 Thessalonians 1:9).

The Lord through Paul and Silas preached the Gospel of God’s Grace to us in Christ (dispensational Bible study). By placing their faith in that message, the Thessalonians either progressed to further understand God’s Word (that is, how God was now revealing advanced information—the mystery program—not found in the Old Testament), and/or learned that the one true God, unlike the pagan gods they had worshipped as heathens, had come in the form a Man to die for their sins. After the Thessalonians trusted Christ, today’s Scripture and its context (1:3–2:1) describe how God used them to evangelize their neighbors!

Ever wonder, “Are our preaching the message of God’s grace and teaching the King James Bible rightly divided, really worth it?” After all, many—even professing Christians (!)—hate it. Too prideful and too attached to their religious tradition to admit that God’s message to us Gentiles is Paul’s epistles (Romans through Philemon), denominational Christians vehemently oppose and attempt to suppress dispensational Bible study… THAT is vain. For, though we are few in number, we Pauline dispensationalists “serve the living and true God,” and nothing God does is ever “in vain” (worthless, futile). “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Again, “Are our preaching God’s grace and our teaching the King James Bible rightly divided, really worth it?” Today’s Scripture is a resounding, “Yes, it is worth it! It is ‘not in vain!’” 🙂

The Propensity to Acquire Our Currency

Friday, August 31, 2012

“For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise. For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face” (2 Corinthians 11:19,20 KJV).

Sinful mankind naturally seeks dishonest material gain, and today’s Scripture explains that clerics are no exception.

Since Hurricane/Tropical Storm Isaac has passed through my area, police and other state officials are cautioning residents to be wary of phony contractors who are going door-to-door and “offering” their (fraudulent) services of rebuilding and demolition. These persons, like false religious teachers, prey on the weak and desperate, and we need to guard ourselves against them.

The Corinthians, although Christians, had precious little understanding of God’s Word rightly divided. Hence, they were vulnerable to doctrinal error (heresies), which abounded in their assembly (the Apostle Paul wrote 1 Corinthians to reprove them): “For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be manifest among you” (1 Corinthians 11:19). Now, sometime later, Paul wrote today’s Scripture, and evidently the Corinthians are still “approving” these false teachers.

Notice Paul’s sarcasm in today’s Scripture: “Ye suffer [allow/permit] fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise.” Essentially, “You Corinthians are so ‘wise’ that you gladly listen to a bunch of fools!” (Unfortunately, Paul would write this to Christendom today!) These false teachers discouraged the Corinthians from heeding and obeying the Lord’s Word through the Apostle Paul, and the Corinthians gladly allowed themselves to be deceived (cf. Galatians 3:1-4; Galatians 4:15-21). Today’s Scripture shows these false teachers acquired both the Corinthians’ trust and their income!

Saints, let us be “perfect” (spiritually mature) and “edified” (spiritually built up, strengthened) in God’s Word rightly divided, “that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight [trickery] of men, and cunning craftiness [scams], whereby they lie in wait [secretly] to deceive;…” (Ephesians 4:12,14).

Let us be wary of false teachers, who have “the propensity to acquire our currency.”

Myriads of Itching Ears #2

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:3,4 KJV).

Beware of the megachurches, for they teach mega error!

“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly [clearly], that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron” (1 Timothy 4:1,2). False teaching within professing Christianity is nothing new: these verses (including today’s Scripture) foretold an explosion of it. Ever since Paul wrote these Scriptures almost 20 centuries ago, literally tens of thousands of apostate religious systems, denominations, creeds, and ceremonies have been devised.

Furthermore, the rise of megachurches in the past few decades has exacerbated this false teaching. These monstrous congregations have incorporated a mishmash of the aforementioned doctrinal errors in order to accommodate just about anyone. Sadly, it is “hypocrisy” (it professes to be Christianity, but it is everything but, and it deceives Christians and lost people alike). So many good, sincere souls are “bewitched” by religion, especially in megachurches. They, seeking entertainment, are under a satanic spell, as described in Galatians 3:1-3 and 2 Timothy 2:24-26, and many are oblivious to it.

In Paul’s final epistle, written just prior to his martyrdom, he admitted—2,000 years ago—that the Body of Christ was in apostasy: “This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes” (2 Timothy 1:15). Two false teachers, Phygellus and Hermogenes had convinced “all they which are in Asia [that is, present-day Turkey]” to “turn away” from Paul. Basically, Phyllegus and Hermogenes had undone everything that Paul had labored so hard to accomplish with these Christians in Asia.

With the doctrine Jesus Christ committed to the Apostle Paul now forsaken, the Christians in Asia had only one way to go spiritually—down, down, down, down, down! This is true of Christendom today, especially within the megachurches. Beware!!!

Be Not Pierced By the Sword of the Spirit #4

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

“And take… the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:” (Ephesians 6:17 KJV).

Again, take heed—it does matter what Bible version you read!

Utilizing Greek philosophy, Satan distracted the Corinthians from the sound doctrine Paul preached to them. Hence, the Apostle cautioned them regarding this worthless human wisdom (pagan philosophy).

As Christians, “we are labourers together with God” (1 Corinthians 3:9a). In Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon, God has furnished us with building materials, sound doctrine. When we “study” Pauline doctrine, we understand what God is doing today in the Dispensation of Grace, and by faith, we become “workmen” (2 Timothy 2:15) who cooperate with God and do what He is doing (teaching lost mankind about salvation, educating Christians about God’s will for them, et cetera).

Paul laid the foundation, Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery (1 Corinthians 3:10,11). We can build on that foundation by applying sound Pauline Bible doctrine by faith, symbolized by “gold, silver, precious stones,” or we can use worthless building materials such as philosophy and religious tradition—“wood, hay, stubble” (verses 11,12).

“Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire” (verses 13-15).

After the rapture, at the Judgment Seat of Christ, Jesus Christ will determine the quality of the doctrine we Christians believed and applied to life. That which is worthless—religious tradition, human wisdom, and so on—will burn up. Only sound Pauline Bible doctrine will withstand that fiery test, and only that will remain!

Most, if not all, modern English “bibles” are unsound. Their denominational translators obscure Pauline dispensationalism by omitting, adding, and changing words. Friend, take heed!! Using these perverted books will hinder your spiritual growth and cause you to lose—not salvation—but reward!

A Competitor Who Could Not Be Eliminated

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

“And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him, and could not find what they might do: for all the people were very attentive to hear him” (Luke 19:47,48 KJV).

The Lord Jesus Christ is “bad for business.” Israel’s crooked religious leaders need to quickly get rid of Him: He has caused their funding to run dry and now He is challenging their “authority!”

Today’s Scripture is quite comical, and once we understand its context, we cannot help but smile. The Lord Jesus has just exposed and thrown out the dishonest individuals who were selling overpriced goods in the Temple (verses 45,46), and this greatly angers the money-hungry chief priests, scribes, and chief of the people. Now, in today’s Scripture, these religious leaders are frantic—Jesus has got to go! He has not only removed their source of income, but now He is teaching in the Temple everyday!

These religious leaders conspire to kill Jesus, but there are hindrances. God the Father is not ready for Jesus to die, and Jesus’ audience is so fascinated with the doctrine that He is teaching, that the religious leaders cannot take hold of Jesus without making a commotion. Thus, throughout Luke chapter 20, these religious leaders utilize many ploys to publicly discredit Jesus, to hopefully “outsmart” Him with a question and thus silence Him before His audience.

On several occasions, these religious leaders proceed to ask Jesus captious questions, inquiries designed to trap Him in His speech (Luke 20:1,2,20-22,26-33). Finally, “Then certain of the scribes answering said, Master, thou hast well said. And after that they durst [dare] not ask him any question at all” (verses 39,40). These religious leaders hated Jesus for exposing their hypocrisy and Bible ignorance. Though they fervently tried to silence Him, He had put them to complete shame: ultimately, they could do nothing but agree with Him and remain quiet.

God’s Word is always a threat to religion, so let us not be surprised or discouraged when religionists treat us as they did our Lord Jesus Christ. 🙂

A Minority Worth Joining

Monday, August 6, 2012

“And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)” (Acts 1:15 KJV).

The Bible is clear—truth is never dependent upon numbers.

Earth’s population is quickly approaching seven billion people, but only about one-third of this figure claims to be “Christian” (considering the anti-Christ beliefs within that minority, the number of true [Holy Spirit-indwelt] Christians is considerably less than the two billion normally assumed). The number of true Christians who know God’s Word to them is even smaller… the number of those who believe God’s Word to them is even smaller!

  • Most of the world is wrong. Since Jesus Christ is “the way, the truth, and the life” and “no man cometh unto the Father, but by [him]” (John 14:6), and most people reject Him, this means that most of the world is wrong. Jesus Christ “is the truth,” and by rejecting Him, they reject the truth.
  • Most of Christendom is wrong. Since 2 Corinthians 2:17 says, “Many… corrupt the word of God,” we conclude the following: There are many counterfeit Bible teachings—false doctrines and false “bibles”—so the likelihood of widespread deception increases, and the odds of someone finding and accepting (believing) the truth become smaller.

A Christian who just came to understand and believe the Bible dispensationally, asked: “This [Pauline dispensational Bible study] is the truth, so where is everyone?” She asked this while standing in a local grace church, which consisted of only a few dozen members. (A sobering thought regarding grace “mega-churches”—Located within a three-million-people metropolitan area, the “largest” grace church I personally know averages an amazing 200 people a week!)

We who understand and appreciate Paul’s special ministry are few. Yes, we are in the minority because we use the King James Bible. Indeed, we are few who have trusted Christ Jesus alone as our personal Saviour. But, that is fine. 🙂 Remember, worldwide, only eight were saved on Noah’s ark (2 Peter 2:5), and after three years of earthly ministry, Jesus Christ only had about 120 followers in Jerusalem (today’s Scripture).

God Has Already Spoken to Us

Sunday, August 5, 2012

“We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:19-21 KJV).

Does God communicate with us through hunches, feelings, emotions, visions, dreams, and “soft, still” voices in our heads? These are subjective: they are tentative because they vary amongst individuals. We need an objective standard, something trustworthy and unchanging—God’s written Word, the Holy Bible.

God did communicate with man via theophanies (God appeared in a physical body and spoke to people; Genesis 3:8,9; Genesis 18:1; et al.). Through angels, visions/dreams, supernatural spiritual gifts, and prophets, He relayed His messages to people (Daniel 9:22,23; Matthew 1:20-24; Acts 10:3; 2 Corinthians 12:1; et al.). But, according to 1 Corinthians 13:8-13, these temporary things—partial wisdom and partial knowledge—were done away when complete wisdom and complete knowledge were brought in.

When was complete wisdom and complete knowledge brought in? As soon as God’s written Word was completed (nearly 2000 years ago), God’s will was fully revealed to man. In the King James Bible’s 66 books we know everything that God wants us to know. Visions, apparitions, “prophetic words” from a preacher’s lips, and angelic appearances are not God’s methods of communication with us.

In the context of today’s Scripture (verses 16-18) the Apostle Peter recounts the time on the Mount of Transfiguration when he, James, and John saw Jesus Christ in His glorified form (Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36). But Peter says we have “a more sure word of prophecy.” The Bible is more reliable than experiences we can see with our physical eyes.

We have God’s revealed and written Word preserved in English in the King James Bible. The Bible is the Final Authority, not religious tradition or a preacher’s hunches.

We Troublemakers Are Grace Partakers #3

Friday, July 27, 2012

“What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin” (Romans 3:9 KJV).

The verdict is in: Mankind is—guilty, guilty, GUILTY!

On the surface, mankind appears amicable, but peel away the attractive veneer—the ideologies of formalism (the elaborate religious ceremonies that seem godly) and self-reformation (“turning over a new leaf”)—to discover that mankind is a monster. Even the nicest person is potentially capable of doing the vilest of acts, in a moment’s notice.

After describing wicked mankind (verses 10-18), the Holy Spirit, through the pen of the Apostle Paul, summarizes God’s case against mankind: “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them [Israel] who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his [God’s] sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (verses 19,20).

Why did God give the Ten Commandments? To demonstrate our worthiness to enter heaven, as many assume? NO! “The law is the knowledge of sin”—the Law proves God is just in damning us sinners to hellfire (1 Timothy 1:8-10)! The Ten Commandments, first given to Israel, actually condemn us all, Jews and Gentiles, as sinners (spiritually, we have “minus righteousness”).

We need to be honest with ourselves (our flesh abhors that!). There is nothing good in any of us: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” (Romans 5:12). Our basic problem is not that we commit sins, but rather that we have a sin nature, “desperately wicked hearts” (Jeremiah 17:9), an inherent predisposition that causes us to gravitate toward those sinful acts. We naturally follow our father Adam, federal head of mankind: we deliberately ignore God’s Word and do whatever we want (1 Timothy 2:14). “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6ab).

But….