Category: Pauline Dispensationalism / Dispensational Bible Study

Known of God #3

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

“Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?” (Galatians 4:8,9 KJV).

Not only do we in Christ know God. More importantly, God knows us!

Ephesians 2:11-13 lays out the Bible timeline: “[11] Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; [12] That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: [13] But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.”

In “time past,” God dealt with mankind on the basis of physical circumcision (Jew) and physical uncircumcision (Gentile). He had separated unto Himself the nation Israel from the world (see Romans 9:4,5). Ephesians 2:11-12 says, during that time—Gentiles were “without Christ” (Christ’s earthly ministry was to Israel only; Matthew 15:24), Gentiles were “aliens from the commonwealth of Israel” (not members of Israel), Gentiles were “strangers from the covenants of promise” (God made covenants with Israel), Gentiles “ha[d] no hope” (no promises from God), and Gentiles were “without God” (no Levitical priesthood of God). This correlates to the first part of today’s Scripture: “[W]hen ye [Gentiles] knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.”

Verse 13 of Ephesians chapter 2 says, “BUT…,” a contrast to our previous statements: “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off [Gentiles] are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” This links to the next part of today’s Scripture: “But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God,….” In what Scripture calls “but now,” our present-day, God deals with all of mankind without distinguishing between Jew and Gentile.

We proceed to show how this new way of God dealing with mankind began with the Apostle Paul’s salvation and commission….

Known of God #2

Monday, May 23, 2016

“Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?” (Galatians 4:8,9 KJV).

Not only do we in Christ know God. More importantly, God knows us!

Departing Moses admonishes Israel to remember she alone is God’s special people. Deuteronomy chapter 4: “[5] Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. [6] Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. [7] For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for? [8] And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?”

Once Israel entered the Promised Land, Gentiles were to literally see their unique Law-keeping behavior and respond: “Our dead idols do nothing for us, but, LOOK!, an all-powerful, wise, loving God works mightily in Israel! Let us turn to that God and forget our superstitions and statues!”

Romans chapter 9 describes Israel’s privileges in “time past:” “[4] Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; [5] Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.” Israel was to be God’s “son-nation,” His earthly coworker-nation. They had His presence, His covenants, His Law (Word), His priesthood, His promises, and His earthly ministry (Matthew through John). Of the Gentiles like us during that time, today’s Scripture says, “[Y]e knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.”

Thank God, we have moved from “time past” to “but now!”

Known of God #1

Sunday, May 22, 2016

“Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?” (Galatians 4:8,9 KJV).

Not only do we in Christ know God. More importantly, God knows us!

Today’s Scripture carries the thought mentioned throughout the previous chapter. While the one true God was dealing with the nation of Israel, preparing them to function as His earthly people, the nations—including the Gentiles in Galatia—“knew not God” and “did service unto them which by nature are no gods.” That is, in their heathen religious services, they worshipped various dead idols.

The Gentiles were doubly-severed from the one true God. They were not only dead in their trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1-3). They were also on the wrong side of the middle wall of partition that God had erected (Ephesians 2:11,12). The Israelites, not the Gentiles, were God’s chosen people. Having let the nations (Gentiles) go their way in spiritual ignorance at the Tower of Babel in Genesis chapter 11, God took Abraham and began to form His special nation in chapter 12. Romans chapter 1 shows us the nations’ blatant rejection of God’s clearly revealed will, and their subsequent spiritual ignorance. This was the former state of the Galatians in today’s Scripture. It was also the lot of our Gentile ancestors in the centuries before Christ!

Did God not care about the Gentiles? Why, of course He did! God’s will was to take the nation Israel, convert them, fill them with His Word, so they, as His kingdom of priests, could then take that divine revelation to the nations (Genesis 12:1-3; Isaiah 2:1-3; Isaiah 60:1-3; Isaiah 61:6; Zechariah 8:20-23). Israel, as we all know, failed in that regard. But, God, in eternity past, devised another way to reach Gentiles until Israel’s national conversion. Today’s Scripture provides a clue as to how He did it. We Gentile believers in Jesus Christ “have known God” and “are known of God.” Just what exactly does this mean? Let us search the Scriptures to find out!

Malnourished Saints

Saturday, May 21, 2016

“For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat” (Hebrews 5:12 KJV).

Regrettably, today’s Scripture could be written to today’s average “Christian.”

It is rather sad to see someone in an adult body with a child’s mentality. Normally, this person should behave and make decisions like a mature person. However, due to various reasons, he or she cannot function like an adult. It is no exaggeration to claim that 90 to 95 percent of Christians (whether professing or legitimate) fit this category in the spiritual realm. They have such a shallow—or even no (!)—understanding of the Holy Bible.

In my short decade of ministry, speaking to and hearing from various people, I have grown more and more aware of the fact that many of the people who read the Bible have an extremely limited understanding of it. Even people who trusted Jesus Christ decades ago, who should have matured in God’s Word years back, know little Bible teaching.

Years ago, I sat with a Christian on his deathbed. He was so burdened about his lost friends. He told me that he did not know what to tell them about soul salvation. Another elderly Christian brother sought my help in understanding the Scriptures (and he had been studying the Bible two decades before me!). Or the Christian couple who went to an “evangelical” church for a decade and, in their words, “learned nothing.” What about the woman who learned more about the Bible in a few hours using dispensational Bible study, than what she learned 90 years in her denominational church?!

I have met all sorts of people who claim to read the Bible, and yet their beliefs match anything and everything but. The list goes on and on and on. I have seen it firsthand, and have spoken with others who have heard similar stories. Bible ignorance is the greatest within “Bible” circles. May we get into the meat of the Bible—Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon—and throw away our baby bottle!

Our latest Bible Q&A: “Why do people grow angry when we share right division with them?”

Paul’s Three-Fold Announcement

Friday, May 20, 2016

“Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles” (Acts 13:46 KJV).

Israel has been warned—there are two more admonitions to come!

Anyone who has seriously studied the book of Acts is familiar with the three-fold announcement the Apostle Paul made to the nation Israel. Today’s Scripture was the first. Acts 18:6 is the second: “And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean; from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.” Acts 28:28 is the last: “Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.”

While there are some very asinine teachings associated with this three-fold announcement, we push such denominational biases aside to look at the verses themselves. Consult a good Bible atlas (there may be one in the back on your Bible) and notice where Acts 13:46, Acts 18:6, and Acts 28:28 were spoken. The first was uttered in Antioch of Pisidia, Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). The second was spoken in Corinth, Achaia (modern-day southern Greece). The last was uttered in Rome, Italy (the world’s capital at that time). In other words, Paul traveled westward making this proclamation. We in the Western world should be thankful. The Gospel of Grace, instead of spreading eastward (the Far East), came our way first!

Although it is common to view the book of Acts as “the record of the birth of the Church” (a faulty phrase found commonly in “Christian” thinking), a more appropriate summary is “God’s justice exhibited in setting Israel aside.” The more Paul preached from Acts chapter 9 through chapter 28, the more unbelieving Jews followed him, argued with him, and even physically abused him. By the end of Acts, the transitional period was over. Israel had “diminished” (Romans 11:12); the Holy Spirit through Paul would warn her no more. He had already gone to the Gentiles, and, unlike national Israel, how the Gentiles so joyfully received Him!

Estate Sales and the Eternal State

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

“Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17 KJV).

Friend, have you ever been to an “estate sale?” It is a sale of many items in the home of a recently deceased individual. Whether treasures or trash, the individual could not and did not take these items with him or her.

The deceased left possessions that others can now browse through, purchase, use, and appreciate. For those who think that this life is all there is to our existence, they do everything in their power to hang on to as much material goods as possible. Today’s Scripture calls material goods “uncertain riches”—you will certainly lose them, but when is the uncertainty!

Please understand. There is nothing wrong with saving your money and spending it wisely. Remember, “our” money is actually God’s money. We need to be good managers of that with which God has entrusted us. But, the Bible believer should not be a miser, someone who saves and saves and then, despite the acquired fortune, begs others for freebies. This is silly, but even Christian people do it.

When you pass through the home of someone who has departed this life, you can see his or her life on display—pictures, clothes, books, furniture, kitchen appliances, and so on. Whether his or her soul is enjoying the glories of heaven, or being tormented in the flames of hell, he or she has no need for such items. Those possessions are of no use in eternity. Dear friend, you will take two things with you when you die physically. Firstly, you will take your soul. Secondly, you will take God’s Word. Those things will last forever. The eternal Word of God stored into your eternal soul should be (is?) the primary goal in your life.

Surely, you will leave this world one day. People will go through your possessions and use them. However, they will never be able to take your soul, and they will never be able to take away the Word of God you built into your soul. Of that, we can be certain! 🙂

Our latest Bible Q&A: “Can you explain, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner?’”

I Can Read!

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

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

How can you understand Paul’s knowledge in the mystery of Christ? Read Romans through Philemon!

I have a dear pastor friend in the ministry who, while teaching the Bible, often asks the rhetorical question, “How do I know this is true? Because I can read!” There are verses in the Bible that lead him to conclusions. He is not guessing, using philosophy, or looking to church tradition for insight into spiritual matters.

There are so many people today in Christendom who are not reading the Bible at all. They go to church and let the pastor or priest speak about a few shallow verses that just about everybody knows. That is their “Bible study” for the week… or maybe even for the month or year! They assume that they have done their “Christian” duty. What mindless activity, beloved! No wonder there is so much parroting and deception in the professing church. The vast majority is just repeating what others have claimed the Bible says, and the Bible, more often than not, never said what they claimed it did. Whenever someone offers you a denominational handbook instead of a Bible, he or she is demonstrating to you exactly where his or her heart is. You will be able to see whether God’s Word is being exalted in that group or being ignored by that group.

The chief goal of our early English Bible translators—beginning with John Wycliffe in the late 1300s and culminating with the King James Bible translators in the early 1600s—was to make God’s Word available to the laypeople. For centuries, the “educated” clergy had interpreted the Bible through the lens of tradition. The common people, having little to no training, simply believed whatever the church leadership taught. How sad to learn this is still ongoing—over 400 years after the Holy Spirit gave us the final English Bible! Saints literally died to give it to us, and we often put it on a shelf to collect dust. We open it only in “difficult” times. What a travesty! (And we wonder why the Body of Christ is so pathetically ignorant!)

Dear friend, read your Bible for yourself! 🙂

A Prayer According to God’s Will

Thursday, May 5, 2016

“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;” (1 Timothy 2:1-3 KJV).

On this United States’ National Day of Prayer, we pray you pray according to the Lord Jesus Christ’s will for today!

Today, religious people—the general public, clergy, and government officials—will assemble nationwide, like they do every year, and pray for spiritual and moral revival of the “Christian” (?) United States of America. We commend their noble efforts, but God’s Word says there will be no godly revival of any of the world’s Gentile nations until Jesus Christ returns to earth at His Second Coming (Isaiah 11:9; Isaiah 59:20–60:3; Zechariah 8:20-23; Revelation 11:15; et cetera).

The LORD’s words to King Solomon are often quoted on this day: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

Friends, this is certainly God’s Word, but has nothing to do with Gentiles in the United States in the Dispensation of Grace. This verse has a context often overlooked—the nation Israel under the Mosaic Law, praying in relation to God’s Temple in Jerusalem (verses 15,16). Actually, that Temple was destroyed over 19 centuries ago! Unlike Israel, the United States was never a divinely-founded nation. The American people as a whole are not God’s people like Israel was.

Rather than praying 2 Chronicles 7:14, remember today’s Scripture (God’s Word to us Gentiles). The verse following today’s Scripture says, “[God] Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). Pray for those in authority, that they would trust Jesus Christ alone as their personal Saviour, and then grow in His Word to them so they can make wise decisions on behalf of the people they govern.

333’s 1800th – The Word of God, Quick and Powerful

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12 KJV).

Dear brethren worldwide, by God’s grace, “333 Words of Grace” marks devotional #1800 today!

Had God left us (mankind) to ourselves, we truly would be hopeless and helpless, spiritually blind, unable to know anything about Him or His original intention for us. While so many people are ignorant of Scripture—even with several Bibles at home—the Bible is not an impossible Book. If we truly have an eye to see, if we truly have an ear to hear, and if we truly have a heart to believe, we have God’s personal guarantee that we will know what He wants us to know. Jesus Himself said, “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself” (John 7:17). By the same token, if we prefer to stay “in the dark,” He will grant us that wish!

Today’s Scripture says God’s Word is “quick” (living and life-giving). Jesus Christ said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). The Word of God has the ability to impart spiritual life to its hearers. Today’s Scripture says that God’s Word is also “powerful” (mighty, potent). Paul wrote that God’s Word “effectually worketh also in you that believeth” (1 Thessalonians 2:13). The Word of God has the ability to impart spiritual power to its hearers. The key is to believe/trust that divine Word!

For 1800 days straight now, just a month short of five years (!), we have daily delivered you the Word of God rightly divided. You have been exposed to more Bible doctrine these last 59 months than most will ever get in a lifetime. Friends, we have all learned much from the world’s greatest Book. Yet, there is so much more to learn! Our hope and prayer is that you have believed the thousands of verses we have discussed thus far. After all, there are thousands more to discuss and believe! 🙂 Onward and upward in Christ!

Enjoy our daily devotionals? You can always donate securely to us by visiting https://www.paypal.me/ShawnBrasseaux. Thanks!

Philemon and Onesimus

Sunday, April 17, 2016

“I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, which I have begotten in my bonds: Which in time past was to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me” (Philemon 10,11 KJV).

The last epistle of Paul in the canon of Scripture is his very brief letter to Philemon. Much can be drawn from those few verses, but, in this present study, we will confine our attention to one aspect, to learn a lesson in our own Christian lives. Philemon was a saved man. His slave, Onesimus, was lost, having not trusted Christ until he met Paul. We wonder, did Philemon ever witness to Onesimus?

After the book of Acts, near the end of Paul’s ministry, the Apostle was imprisoned (under house arrest) in Rome for two years (Acts 28:30,31). During this time, he wrote the epistles of Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. While he was in bonds in Rome, he met a runaway slave named Onesimus. Onesimus was from Colosse (cf. Colossians 4:9), where there was a local grace church. Onesimus’ master was Philemon. Philemon was a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, for Paul referred to him as such throughout that short epistle that bears his name. Strangely, Onesimus was an unsaved man when he met the Apostle Paul. Did Philemon ever bother to share the Gospel of Grace with his employee, Onesimus? Maybe not.

Once, a lady told me that, after she was saved, she asked a family member who had been saved for years, “I was on my way to hell, so why did you never share the Gospel with me?” The relative replied, “I do not know!” Unfortunately, Christians oftentimes overlook those closest to them. Parents, children, siblings, in-laws, spouses, cousins, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, neighbors, friends, classmates, and coworkers are people who we can reach. There are people in the world that only we can reach with the Gospel. We have extra-close relationships with them, and they will rarely, if ever, discuss intimate (religious) topics with others. Let us be mindful to take advantage of those special relationships. Souls are on the line!