Category: Pauline Dispensationalism / Dispensational Bible Study

Iniquity Not Yet Full #7

Sunday, May 18, 2014

“But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full” (Genesis 15:16 KJV).

Today’s Scripture expressly declares why the God of the Bible “takes His time” when dealing with sinful mankind.

Israel’s religious leaders abuse God’s prophet Stephen, biting him and throwing him out of Jerusalem. Finally, the mob throws stones at him until he dies. With God’s wrath on mankind literally moments away, the greatest dispensational change to ever “grace” God’s dealings with man, occurs.

Saul of Tarsus—leader of Israel’s opposition to Christ and His little flock, holder of the clothes of Stephen’s murderers in Acts chapter 7—personally met the Lord Jesus Christ in Acts chapter 9. As Saul was traveling to Damascus to persecute more Messianic Jews, the risen, ascended, and glorified Lord Jesus Christ appeared to Saul from heaven. There, Saul experienced God’s love, mercy, and grace; he trusted Jesus Christ alone as his personal Saviour, and became the first member of the Church the Body of Christ. Jesus Christ commissioned him as the Apostle Paul; thereafter, Paul had another extreme ministry—Jesus Christ crucified for our sins, buried, and resurrected (Acts 20:24; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

Years later, Paul wrote of himself: “Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief [first]. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting” (1 Timothy 1:13-16).

In order to have mercy on Israel, God had to suspend her prophetic program. To save Saul of Tarsus, God had to begin a new dispensation, a new set of instructions to mankind, a new program, one He had in mind from before creation but had kept secret—the mystery program, or “the Dispensation of the Grace of God” (Ephesians 3:1-11). God delayed His wrath again….

Iniquity Not Yet Full #1

Monday, May 12, 2014

“But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full” (Genesis 15:16 KJV).

Today’s Scripture expressly declares why the God of the Bible “takes His time” when dealing with sinful mankind.

“Where is the promise of Jesus Christ’s coming?” From believers still asking in faith (cf. Matthew 24:3) to scoffers still asking in ridicule (cf. 2 Peter 3:3,4), it has been queried ad nauseam. How sad a commentary—it is one of many questions to which the Bible already gave answers many, many centuries ago!

In the context of today’s Scripture, Abram—whom God will rename “Abraham” in chapter 17—is nomadic, travelling and camping throughout the land of Canaan, the Promised Land, much of today’s Middle East. Here, JEHOVAH God personally and formally deeded that real estate to Abraham and his descendants, the nation Israel, as an everlasting possession (Genesis 15:1-21; cf. Genesis 17:8).

Moreover, God informs Abram of the future: “And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full” (verses 13-16, today’s Scripture within its immediate context).

God tells Abram that his seed, the nation that will come from his bowels, cannot inherit and dwell in the Promised Land yet. Israel must spend 400 years down in Egypt, most of that time in slavery. Entering Egypt as a tribe of less than 100 people, Israel will return to Canaan (the Promised Land) as a nation of some two million! Why this four-century delay? God’s Word could not be plainer—the original inhabitants of Canaan had not sinned enough yet for Him to displace them and install the Jews (today’s Scripture).

How patient is our God….

Heart Service #15

Saturday, May 10, 2014

“But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you” (Romans 6:17 KJV).

Today’s Scripture is the key to being delivered from and guarded against today’s apostate Christendom.

Christendom’s various false –isms—asceticism, ritualism, denominationalism, legalism, formalism, et cetera—are religion’s methods of reforming outward behavior (ceremonies, rites, and rituals are sin-maintenance activities). Yet, there is no change in nature, in the heart (cf. Matthew 23:25-28).

We trusted the Gospel of Grace, “we obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered [us].” Thankfully, in God’s mind, today’s Scripture says we “were the servants of sin”—past tense. God gave us a new nature: He took us out of Adam and He placed us into Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13; 2 Corinthians 5:17). Thus, He does not see us in Christ as sinners; God sees us in Christ as saints, set apart unto His purpose and will (Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 2 Corinthians 1:1; et al.). Father God does not consider us servants of sin, so does it make sense for us Christians to now serve sin? The answer is unequivocally, “NO!” (The renewed mind of Romans 12:1,2. It is not “reasonable” [logical] to serve sin; it is only “reasonable” to let our identity in Jesus Christ impact our daily living, for He alone deserves praise!)

Literally everything Father God could ever give us—including a new identity/nature—He already gave it all to us, in Jesus Christ! “Ye are complete in him” (Colossians 2:10; cf. Romans 8:32; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Ephesians 1:3). Dear saint, may you never, ever, EVER let the various –isms in religion deceive you and rob you of your spiritual wealth in Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:4,8,18).

Paul prayed for the Ephesians, “That Christ may dwell in [their] hearts by faith” (Ephesians 3:17). May we read, study, and believe Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon, to the end the indwelling Holy Spirit works mightily in the hearts of us who believe those Scriptures, that the very life of Jesus Christ becomes more evident in ours!

So, dear saint, will you “obey from the heart [this] form of doctrine which was delivered you?”

FINIS! 🙂

Heart Service #14

Friday, May 9, 2014

“But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you” (Romans 6:17 KJV).

Today’s Scripture is the key to being delivered from and guarded against today’s apostate Christendom.

Romans chapter 8 begins, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (verses 1-4).

While verse 1 is controversial and confusing (modern Bible versions and their manuscripts omit the underlined clause!), the context clearly indicates this is condemnation of lifestyle, not damnation to hellfire. We must “walk after the Spirit” if our Christian lives are to be acceptable and honoring to God.

Verses 5 and 6 explain: “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” Lost people think like lost people, so they act like lost people. It makes just as much sense for us Christians to think like lost people, as it does for us to act like lost people. Verses 13 and 14 continue: “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”

If we want God’s life and God’s peace in our Christian lives, we must think like He does (Galatians 2:16-21, Galatians 3:1-3, Galatians 5:1-5, Ephesians 4:17-32, and Colossians 3:1-11 are excellent verses you should read for yourself). It starts by learning sound Bible doctrine….

Heart Service #13

Thursday, May 8, 2014

“But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you” (Romans 6:17 KJV).

Today’s Scripture is the key to being delivered from and guarded against today’s apostate Christendom.

The immediate context of today’s Scripture (verses 1-23) defines our position in the Lord Jesus Christ (the identity we received once we trusted the Gospel of the Grace of God delineated in chapters 1-5). You are greatly encouraged to read all of Romans chapter 6 in your own personal study, but here, suffice it to say that that chapter can be summarized as “we are dead unto sin with our Lord Jesus Christ, and we are alive unto God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

When considered in its broader context, today’s Scripture highlights the first chapter of the three-chapter section of Romans that deals with our daily sanctification (Christian living). Romans chapter 7 (which you should also read in your own time) explains that we have not been placed into Jesus Christ and accepted in Him to then return to the miserable bondage of works-religion to make ourselves accepted of God (rules, regulations, ordinances, rituals, rites, ceremonies). The Christian life never began because of our performance (Romans chapters 1-5), so it only follows that the Christian life will never function based on our performance either (Romans chapters 6-8). In fact, our performance will only frustrate/hinder Jesus Christ—the only Person who can live the Christian life!—from living in and through us (Galatians 2:20,21).

The out-working of the Christian life goes back to the perfect, sinless work Jesus Christ accomplished at Calvary, the Gospel that we believed, not in rituals or ceremonies we perform. It goes back to the Gospel of the Grace of God and the grace doctrines Jesus Christ delivered us through the Apostle Paul (today’s Scripture). Romans chapter 8, another passage you should read on your own, explains that the Holy Spirit will work in us to produce “the fruit of the Spirit” of Galatians 5:22-26.

The indwelling Holy Spirit Himself works in us to accomplish the righteous deeds the Law demands we produce in our own strength (which the Law proves we cannot do)….

Heart Service #12

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

“But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you” (Romans 6:17 KJV).

Today’s Scripture is the key to being delivered from and guarded against today’s apostate Christendom.

Carefully consider Galatians 3:1-3, Paul’s rebuke of the churches in Galatia who had trusted Christ, and then abandoned God’s grace for performance-based acceptance (false teachers misled them with works-religion): “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?”

The moment we each trusted Jesus as our personal Saviour, the Holy Spirit placed us into the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13). Instantly, we were “blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). Everything that God could ever give us, He gave us in Christ, and we have it all now in Christ! What can we weaklings possibly do in religion to “enhance” our Christian life, that will improve upon what the Almighty Holy Spirit did?! “O foolish Christendom, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth?!”

Colossians 2:6,7 amplifies today’s Scripture and Galatians 3:1-3: “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.” How did we become Christians? Our efforts? Nay, “[our] faith in Christ” (Colossians 2:5)—our faith, not our works (Romans 4:5). Christ’s works, not ours. The Bible says the Christian life will operate likewise. The same Holy Spirit who made us righteous in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21) will take the sound (rightly divided) Bible doctrine we study, are “taught,” and most importantly believe (trust), and He will work in us (1 Thessalonians 2:13).

But, the Holy Spirit will not work in us until we learn the Bible doctrine He wants to apply to our lives…

Heart Service #11

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

“But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you” (Romans 6:17 KJV).

Today’s Scripture is the key to being delivered from and guarded against today’s apostate Christendom.

Christendom’s greatest blunder has been to willfully disregard Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon, and prefer other Bible books and/or extra-Biblical church tradition. Beloved, once we abandon Paul’s epistles, we have nothing but the Bible’s legalistic (Law-keeping) passages—almsgiving, food restrictions, water baptism, fasting, tithing, prosperity prayer promises, confession of sins, Sabbath-day and feast-day observances, et cetera—the very practices and ceremonies Christendom loves. No wonder Christendom avoids Paul—the doctrine God revealed through him does not profit their denominations (yea, that doctrine would literally bankrupt their systems instead)!

In the books of Romans through Philemon, Paul, “the apostle of the Gentiles” (Romans 11:13), tells us what the risen, ascended, and glorified Lord Jesus Christ has to say to us on this side of Calvary’s cross (not in the Old Testament); in this, the Dispensation of Grace (not the Dispensation of Law); as members of this, the Church the Body of Christ (not the nation Israel); in this, the mystery program (not the prophetic program); and in this, God’s heavenly plan (not His earthly plan). Dispensational Bible study—“rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15)—allows us to recognize the passages that describe how the Christian life operates today.

Just as we trusted Paul’s Gospel—Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection as the fully-satisfying payment for our sins (1 Corinthians 15:3,4)—to be saved from everlasting hellfire, so we trust in it to be saved from daily sins. When Jesus Christ resurrected, He was raised to give us new life, eternal life (Romans 6:1-23, the context of today’s Scripture), life “filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:11). We are righteous before God in Christ; by Jesus Christ’s resurrection life, God will produce fruit in our lives to reflect that identity. The indwelling Holy Spirit is the Person who (literally!) “brings to life” the life of Jesus Christ in our lives….

Heart Service #10

Monday, May 5, 2014

“But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you” (Romans 6:17 KJV).

Today’s Scripture is the key to being delivered from and guarded against today’s apostate Christendom.

One of the earliest (if not the first) divinely-inspired epistles Paul wrote is the book of Galatians. Galatians 2:20,21 encapsulate the epistle’s theme: “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. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.”

Although our physical bodies are living, breathing, and moving, we Christians are technically dead before God (Romans 6:6,7). Hence, we cannot stay in these physical, sin-riddled bodies forever: they, unlike our redeemed souls and spirits, cannot enter heaven (1 Corinthians 15:50). Thus, these flesh-and-blood bodies must be redeemed from sin, death, and corruption (Romans 8:23; 1 Corinthians 15:42-58; Philippians 3:20,21). God left us in these mortal bodies so we could temporarily function on earth (until He comes to get us at the rapture). While these flesh-and-blood bodies are aging and perishing, we have in us “the life of Jesus” (2 Corinthians 4:10,11). Positionally, our souls have never been more alive! Practically, we need to, by faith in God’s Word to us, apply that life! Again, we must think the way God designed Christians to think (Romans 12:1,2).

Galatians says we do not “frustrate [hinder] the grace of God.” Our positional righteousness (eternal view) had nothing to do with our performance but rather everything God could do for us through Jesus Christ (grace). Likewise, our practical righteousness (daily view) has nothing to do with our performance (inhibitions, restraints, self-reformation) either. If we must keep rules and regulations in religion for us to live the Christian life, then God’s Word says, “Christ is [present tense!] dead in vain [for nothing!].”

Again, our practical righteousness depends solely on God’s grace, everything He can do for us through Jesus Christ….

Heart Service #9

Sunday, May 4, 2014

“But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you” (Romans 6:17 KJV).

Today’s Scripture is the key to being delivered from and guarded against today’s apostate Christendom.

Even the great Apostle Paul, as late as 30 years after his salvation, was still attempting to “know [Jesus Christ], and the power of his resurrection” (Philippians 3:10). He knew that he was already in Christ, saved unto eternal life, forgiven, justified (made right before God), bound for heaven, and so on (Romans 8:30-39; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 5:1-10; Galatians 2:20; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18; et cetera). However, to bring that identity into his daily living experience was difficult.

Romans chapter 7—with which we can all identify—explains how Paul would return to old, sinful thinking patterns. Sin would defeat him every time because he thought he had to perform in religion and make himself holy before God (the same thinking patterns he had before he met Jesus Christ; Philippians 3:4-6). Essentially, Paul, a saved man, was acting like a lost man because he was thinking like a lost man (instead of thinking like a Christian). He needed to realize that Christ’s resurrection life, not his performance, was the Christian life!

Romans 12:1,2 explain how our Christian lives operate: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Like Paul, we have to learn that we, in Christ, are already holy before God, already justified, sanctified, forgiven, redeemed, and so on. The grace doctrines found in his epistles must be studied, to the end that they correct our thinking, remind us of who we are in Christ, so that we can then walk in that identity.

Only God’s grace had saved Paul from the penalty of sin (eternal hellfire), so only God’s grace could save Paul from the power of sin (daily failures)….

Heart Service #8

Saturday, May 3, 2014

“But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you” (Romans 6:17 KJV).

Today’s Scripture is the key to being delivered from and guarded against today’s apostate Christendom.

Religion—that is, ceremonies, rites, rituals, et cetera—is very appealing to our flesh—that is, our natural tendency to rebel against God’s Word and will. Israel was guilty of “being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness” and having “not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God” (Romans 10:1-3). The Apostle Paul knew this firsthand. When he was a Jewish religious leader—and a lost man!—he had done more religious works than probably anyone else in his day. Read his “worthless religious résumé” found in Philippians 3:4-6. If anyone could brag about all his achievements in religion, it was Saul of Tarsus!

Now, writing as a saved man—that is, saved from himself, his useless religion, his sins, eternal hellfire, and Satan’s policy of evil—the Apostle Paul informed: “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead” (verses 7-11).

On the road to Damascus, in Acts chapter 9, Saul of Tarsus had died to self, and he submitted to God’s righteousness. Jesus Christ Himself appeared to Saul from heaven, and he relied exclusively on the Gospel of Grace revealed to him there. Over 30 years later (the context of Philippians), Paul was still attempting to fathom Christ’s resurrection life given him….