Category: works-religion

To Know Your Christian Life

Monday, November 28, 2016

“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:6,7 KJV).

Friend, may you come to know your Christian life as God wants you to know it!

Sadly, the average Christian is burdened, confused, frustrated, and miserable. What do we expect, since the average local church does not teach true Christian living anyway? Two primary passages seen as guidelines for Christian living are The Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount. However, these verses were never spoken to us Gentiles and are not God’s operating system for the Church the Body of Christ. They are God’s Word to the nation Israel under the Law! We must go to Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon, for God’s instructions to us Gentiles under grace. The Holy Spirit said, in Ephesians 3:2, “the dispensation of the grace of God” was committed to the Apostle Paul, that he teach it to us. We should not go to Israel’s verses and try to force them on us.

Two Bible books that could help so many Christians are Paul’s epistles to Rome and Galatia. Romans is the foundational book of grace thinking and grace living; Galatians is the correctional book for legalistic (Law-keeping) people to be re-oriented toward grace thinking and grace living. Most Christians need to learn Romans and Galatians! Romans 6:14 says: “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” If you are not grace-oriented, you will be legalistic and disorientated! Rather than Law, God’s grace teaches us how to live and gives us victory over sin. Paul writes in Titus 2:11,12: “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world….” (Sin is not who we are in Christ!)

Galatians 2:20: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

For more information about Christian living, you may see: https://forwhatsaiththescriptures.wordpress.com/2015/07/15/lords-will-for-christians/.

NOTE: Having expanded upon the “Original 7 studies” for the fourth time, our fourth foundation (studies #2001-#2007) is now installed. Onward we press in maturity… and to #2500! 🙂

Our latest Bible Q&A: “How was Paul ‘rude in speech?’”

To Know Dispensational Bible Study

Saturday, November 26, 2016

“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).

Friend, may you come to know the proper system of Bible study as God wants you to know it!

To refute the position of “Bible only” (and bolster “Bible and tradition”), Roman Catholics complain resorting to Scripture alone only leads to confusion and thousands of Protestant denominations. They argue “Sacred Tradition” must be employed to “correctly interpret” Sacred Scripture. (Of course, they ignore the profound ignorance, worse confusion, and innumerable splits within Romanism!) No, there is nothing wrong with “Bible only.” (“Bible and tradition” is faulty because these two competing authorities end up as “tradition only!”) If you use Scripture as it instructs you, recognizing and esteeming the Holy Spirit’s teaching ministry, you will understand it.

Many years ago, two verses helped me grasp the Holy Scriptures. Acts 3:21 first: “Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” There is something God has “spoken… since the world began” (since Adam was placed on Earth). The Apostle Peter’s ministry involved this prophetic program. Now, Romans 16:25: “Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,….” In stark contrast to Peter, the Apostle Paul declared his ministry involved the mystery program—truth God “kept secret since the world began,” but then revealed to Paul so he could teach us Gentiles (Romans 11:13). This eliminates the majority of Bible confusion!

Paul must never be harmonized with the rest of Scripture. Romans through Philemon, his epistles, are not to be conflated with Israel’s verses (the rest of the Bible). Christendom has experienced much trouble through the centuries because it mixed Israel and the Body of Christ, mixed law and grace, mixed heaven and earth, mixed prophecy and mystery, mixed Peter and Paul. They have not “rightly divided”—or properly separated—the dispensations (sets of instructions) God demands we differentiate. The problem is not with Scripture—it is with those misusing it!

For more information about dispensational Bible study, you may see: https://333wordsofgrace.wordpress.com/whats-dispensational-bible-study/.

To Know Your Purpose

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

“Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him” (Ephesians 1:9,10 KJV).

Friend, may you come to know your purpose as God wants you to know it!

How sad it is that some people literally spend their whole lives looking, looking, looking (!) for meaning, purpose, and fulfillment. Perhaps they even reach the end of that earthly existence disappointed, having not a stiver of meaningful information more than they started their quest! However, they diligently and frantically explored various avenues—fame, education, money, professionalism, sexuality, entertainment, religion, friendships, science, “inner searching,” marriage, parenthood, and so on. Throughout, their minds and hearts were spun around and rendered senseless with myriads of conflicting ideas and downright fallacies. Having ignored the Holy Bible, they looked in all the wrong places!

Since the living and true God is God, He can withhold information. “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God….” (Deuteronomy 29:29). Since we are creatures, not Creator, certain knowledge has been withheld from us. We can search all we want, but we have no such capacity in and of ourselves to grasp it (even if we could find it!). However, the verse continues: “but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.” Daniel 2:47 is a pagan king admitting the God of the Bible, JEHOVAH God, is “a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets….”

Today’s Scripture says God has made known unto us “the mystery [or secret] of his will.” He purposed in Himself that we might have a purpose. The God of the Bible wants to make His Son, Jesus Christ, the Head of everything in the universe. His secret will for us is that He wants us to glorify that Son in the heavenly places. The Holy Bible is very clear that we do this first and foremost by becoming members of the Church the Body of Christ!

Our latest Bible Q&A: “What is the Sabbath day—Saturday or Sunday?”

Increasing Unto More Ungodliness

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness” (2 Timothy 2:15,16 KJV).

If you do not “rightly divide the word of truth;” you will embrace “profane and vain babblings;” and “ungodliness” will increase, increase, INCREASE!!

One reference book on religion says, “The existence of many religions, albeit sects, confused him, however.” That poor man confessed: “…[T]he teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passage of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible.” He was “in utter confusion,” wondering which group to follow. (He was already in one denomination.) “God” and “Jesus” then appeared to him and told him that “none” of the religions were right, that all of them were “corrupt.” Joseph Smith thought he finally solved his dilemma of “which group to join”—he started the Mormon Church! (And then he became hopelessly baffled when he joined it!)

What a real shame! Since Christendom has utterly failed to “rightly divide the word of truth” for 20 centuries, denomination after denomination has arisen. They now number in the tens of thousands! Frankly, the Roman Catholic Church would have never started had the Word of God been consistently rightly divided from the first century onward. The Mormon Church would have never started. The Baptist Church would have never started. The Presbyterians, Lutherans, Assemblies of God, Churches of Christ, Nazarenes, Episcopalians, Seventh-Day Adventists, Methodists, Christian Scientists, would have never started!!

Had professing Christians never abandoned the doctrine taught by God’s “apostle of the Gentiles” (Romans 11:13), the Apostle Paul, in the Books of Romans through Philemon, they would have never gotten into the mess in which they are. Alas, they grabbed verses to and about Israel, tried to make them fit us Gentiles, and made God’s Word burdensome, nauseating, and repulsive for billions through the ages! We would hate to be in the shoes of those people when they stand before the Lord Jesus Christ in judgment, having to give an account for all those “idle” (empty, worthless) “words” (Matthew 12:36,37), such “profane [wicked] and vain [empty] babblings [gibberish]!”

REMINDER: The 2016 Slidell Grace Bible Conference, being held just north of New Orleans, is only one month away! Speakers are Richard Jordan, John Smith, and I (Shawn Brasseaux). Please refer to the attached flyer for all the details: https://arcministries.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/2016-slidell-gbc.pdf. We’d love to have you come! (Videos will be uploaded to YouTube later this year.)

Arrayed in Hypocrisy

Monday, October 31, 2016

“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 listening to them.

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

Our latest Bible Q&A: “What are ‘phylacteries?’”

You may also see our special study, “Should Christians celebrate Halloween?”

Gospel Truth

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

“If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (1 John 5:9-12 KJV).

Have you ever heard the expression, “It is the gospel truth?” Someone says this when he or she wants others to believe his or her statements. In other words, it functions as verification. (Yet, who of these people actually believe the Gospel is “truth?”)

People will believe what other humans say in a moment’s notice. Sadly, we humans can be very naïve. Incidentally, I recently saw friends of mine circulating on social media what they assumed was a true news headline. In reality, it was fake! The website was spelled very similarly to a popular, legitimate news organization’s site. What should have caught their attention was the news article’s absurd title. Alas, my friends—and many others—were easily deceived!

Whenever people talk about the Bible, especially critics, they invariably mention its “unreliability.” They scoff at and deride the Scriptures, even though the Bible has abundant internal proof to demonstrate itself to be the Word of God. Yet, they refuse that testimony. No, they do not want to hear what God has to say. They would rather listen to and believe another human’s gossip, read and believe another human’s opinions and speculations, and broadcast and believe fantasy and folly another human originated. But, believe the Word of God that never lies? Never!

Today’s Scripture says God offers us eternal life in His Son, Jesus Christ. We either believe this or we do not. So many believe eternal life is found in rituals, rites, ceremonies, commandments, denominations, and organizations. They, having received and believed “the witness of men,” and having rejected “the witness of God,” will be sorely disappointed at death because they rejected TRUE Gospel truth!

Heart’s Desire

Saturday, October 1, 2016

“I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart” (Romans 9:1,2 KJV).

Why did Paul have “great heaviness and continual sorrow in [his] heart?”

Mom and I recently visited a family friend, a new Christian only a year old in the Lord. After our three-hour Bible study answering her questions, she spoke to us as we were leaving. Having just learned many precious truths from God’s Word, this dear lady began to literally weep. She now fathomed the immense deception of her former denomination. How she was so burdened that her son, her daughter, and her grandchildren were still trapped in that cult. She had raised them in that religious group, and while she had escaped, they had chosen to remain in it. We comforted and encouraged her.

In today’s Scripture, the Apostle Paul was deeply disturbed, constantly sorrowful. Verse 3 explains, “For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” Paul was so saddened to see his Jewish brethren stuck in their apostasy—Satanic deception and anti-Jesus-Christ attitude. They hated Jesus so much they often attempted to take Paul’s life for preaching His name! Chapter 10 opens: “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.” And, verse 3: “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.”

Friend, do you know what made it especially hurtful for Paul to see Israel utterly fallen and thoroughly deceived? As Saul of Tarsus, he had encouraged Israel to reject Jesus and kill His followers (Acts 8:1-4; Acts 26:9-11)! Being lost, Paul had led Israel’s rebellion against Jesus Christ! Now, having been saved from hell’s flames, he felt deep remorse for what he had done. Until his dying day, Paul surely prayed for his unbelieving brethren. They were to give up their works-religion and embrace Jesus Christ, as he had! Beloved, let us not cease to pray for our unsaved loved ones—and be ready to speak God’s truth when they want it!

Bible Q&A #310: “Can you explain 1 Corinthians 8?”

May Ignorance Not Be Your Preference!

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

“Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)” (Ephesians 3:4 KJV).

Want to know the Bible’s truths, especially Paul’s revelations? Read it!

Recently, I spoke with a Christian brother who explained how he had quite an “adventure” coming to understand the Bible rightly divided. It boggled his mind how, despite all the deception in the world, he had come to the knowledge of the truth. In fact, other grace believers often ask the same question he had, “Why did God choose to reveal this to me while so many others, especially professing Christians, know nothing about it and grope in spiritual darkness?” Dear friends, this is actually a flawed question because, whether we realize it or not, it endorses the false teachings of Calvinism (that is, “God chose me and He did not choose you! I am so special!”)

The consistent testimony of Scripture is people are ignorant of God’s Word, not because He chose them for ignorance, but because they refused Him and His Word. See Romans 1:20-32, for example. The Lord Jesus Himself said in John 7:17: “If any man will [wishes to] do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.” He said in Matthew 23:37: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” Finally, John 5:43: “I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.”

“Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine” (1 Timothy 4:13). Bibles are everywhere on this planet—in print, online, and audio. Oftentimes, people who have access to several Bibles never read any of them, let alone study any! Too many people, if they do read the Bible, always let theologians and denominations “interpret” (read that as “confuse!”) it for them. According to Scripture, the vast majority remains ignorant of God’s truths because ignorance is their preference! “If any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant” (1 Corinthians 14:38)!

Our latest Bible Q&A: “Could you explain John 1:51?”

Great Peace in a World in Pieces

Friday, September 16, 2016

“Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them” (Psalm 119:165 KJV).

They have “great peace” indeed!

Friends, it is no secret that our world is seriously troubled. Lost people, while lacking the answers like most professing “Christians,” at least know something is wrong. They are frantically searching for solutions wherever and however they can—politics, education, science, religion, finances, entertainment, and so on. Since fallible human opinions heavily dominate these realms, they provide no lasting and soothing explanations. In fact, their associated uncertainties only trouble the already-befuddled human mind. As Ecclesiastes 12:12 says, “…of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness to the flesh.” Friend, as King Solomon concluded, you investigate and think about the world like an unsaved person, and you will be burned out very quickly! All the troublesome realities you discover will throughly exhaust you!

Thankfully, God gave us His written Word. We do not have to be “children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive” (Ephesians 4:14). Instead of being constantly buffeted about by every silly teaching and every lie out there, we can be established (founded) and stablished (stabilized) in the truths of God’s Word rightly divided. We can have “great peace” while those around us (lacking the Word of God) stumble about, tossed about and “offended.” They have not grounded and guarded themselves in the Holy Bible. It is their fault, not God’s fault! He gave them answers in His Word, but they would rather drift and sway! Pride, friends, pride keeps them from opening the Book! They have their own “answers” and will not dare seek any from their Creator!

While we can have “great peace” when we value and esteem God’s Holy Word, oftentimes, we are distracted from it and we ourselves are “offended” (troubled, stumbled) as those who do not have it. Until Jesus Christ returns, this world will remain in pieces. Still, we have His inspired Word, so let us rest in it, relaxing in “great peace” until He makes all right! 🙂

Our latest Bible Q&A: “Are angels women?”

An Inconvenient Truth

Saturday, September 10, 2016

“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).

Into what depths of madness will we descend if we ignore today’s Scripture?

An elderly lady once expressed to me a most unpleasant dilemma. For years she had known a Roman Catholic priest and his “healing missions trips” to foreign countries. Those poverty-stricken people overseas did not have viable healthcare, so they embraced his “healing campaigns.” She explained he had come to her house many times before to hold “healing”/prayer meetings. She not only let him come but she also participated. In recent years, however, he had not visited her home (perhaps she could no longer afford donations?!). Furthermore, she had had severe health (largely mobility) problems that prevented her from attending his meetings being held elsewhere. Her lack of healing proved today’s Scripture. Despite all the “healing claims,” these temporary bodies are still wearing down and dying!

The above predicament describes the insanity one will experience if he or she rejects the plain and simple truths of the Word of God. When you consider the absolutely absurd beliefs abounding in the world, they generally fall into two categories—science and religion. Both parties have scorned the light and understanding God’s Word would have provided them had they received it (Psalm 119:130). Man refusing to hear the Word of God will wind up in the same spiritual darkness as he would have remained in had God not given us His Word at all.

Religion and science alike are largely based on man’s intuition and opinions, not on the Holy Spirit’s teaching ministry. Thus, they will never be the means whereby God reveals Himself. First Corinthians 2:9-10 says: “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” Friends, let us allow the Holy Spirit to teach us His inspired Word, the Holy Bible. If we refuse, pledging blind allegiance to religion and/or science, all boundaries of sanity will indeed be lifted!

Our latest Bible Q&A: “Are we humans created in ‘the image of God?’”