Category: Pauline Dispensationalism / Dispensational Bible Study

To Us, It is Venomous Doctrine

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

“And these signs shall follow them that believe;… they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, they shall recover…” (Mark 16:17a,18ab KJV).

Today’s Scripture demonstrates that dispensational Bible study is literally “a matter of life or death….”

Recently, a charismatic minister failed to “rightly divide the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). The penalty? It cost him… his very life. Although he was scriptural, he was not dispensational. He, like so many before, actually believed that he could follow today’s Scripture without dire consequences. His denominational bias convinced him that he could handle snakes, and it misled him to “handle the word of God deceitfully” (2 Corinthians 4:2). This individual literally died after a venomous snake bit him.

Mark 16:15-20 is one of the most confused Bible passages in Christendom. Nearly every group follows one or more of these verses, but no one obeys the whole passage. Most Protestant Evangelicals only enjoy verse 15 (fearing verses 16-18). Roman Catholics especially like verse 16. Only a small class of religionists dare attempt to “follow” (read that take and fake) verses 17 and 18 (today’s Scripture). Religionists today who enjoy handling snakes ignore the rest of verse 18—consuming poison! Who follows that and lives? Today, who drinks the poison and “recovers?” No one! (Hypocrisy thus exposed.) Is the Bible is error? NEVER!

Why the “odd” teachings of Mark 16:15-20? Firstly, none of it is spoken to us. Jesus Christ was speaking to Israel’s apostles and Jewish kingdom believers, not us (Matthew 15:24; John 4:22; Romans 15:8). Never does our Apostle Paul command snake handling: it does not belong in our Dispensation of Grace.

But, why snake handling in Mark chapter 16? During the seven-year Tribulation, God will give believing Israel the ability to guard herself against the animal kingdom (cf. Exodus 4:1-5). Wild beasts will become more vicious after our dispensation closes (at the rapture), and they will actually kill millions (maybe billions) during the Tribulation period (Revelation 6:8). We are not living in Israel’s prophetic program, so Mark chapter 16 does not work today. To us, it is venomous doctrine… physically and spiritually….

*For more information, see our larger Bible study “How to Handle Mark 16.” It can be read here or watched here.

Let Him Be Ignorant

Monday, June 4, 2012

“But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant” (1 Corinthians 14:38 KJV).

As Jesus Christ’s ambassadors, we are commissioned to tell the lost world of God’s saving grace in Christ. We are also instructed to impart sound Bible doctrine (Pauline dispensationalism) to other Christians so that they may grow spiritually. But what if individuals (including professing “Christians”) refuse to listen to us? Today’s Scripture MUST then be applied.

There is nothing wrong with Bible questions, but arguing for the sake of arguing is worthless and a waste of time. “But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. And the servant of the Lord must not strive” (2 Timothy 2:23,24a). If someone deliberately and persistently rejects Paul’s apostolic authority, let them remain ignorant (1 Corinthians 14:37; the verse preceding today’s Scripture). If a person wants to go to hell, and refuses to accept sound Bible doctrine by trusting Christ Jesus alone, let them stay confused. Free will!!! God does not twist arms, and neither should we.

Proverbs 26:4,5 KJV is wisdom in this regard: “Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.” Sometimes it is appropriate to respond to the scoffers; other times, you will decide to say nothing, and go on your way to those who will listen. Determine what action the situation requires by listening to the person’s tone, and comments, and observing their facial expressions, demeanor, and so on. But do not waste time arguing!

Be not discouraged when someone refuses to hear your testimony regarding God’s Word (the King James Bible). Just go on your way and speak to those who do want to hear what the Bible says! (Those who reject you as a Christian are not rejecting you per-say, they are rejecting God, and God will deal with them.)

Paul warned Timothy: “Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting [defeat, ruin] of the hearers” (2 Timothy 2:14).

*Adapted from a larger Bible study with the same name. It can be read here or watched here.

Our Kinsmen According to the Flesh

Sunday, June 3, 2012

“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. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:” (Romans 9:1-3 KJV).

Sharing Jesus Christ with lost (unsaved) strangers is difficult. We need to tell them of their impending eternal doom and of the salvation in Christ, but we sometimes keep quiet, fearing ridicule and rejection. However, telling our own family about Christ is tougher….

In today’s Scripture, our Apostle Paul begins three chapters—Romans chapters 9-11—that discuss Israel’s past, present, and future statuses. Israel once had a special position before God (Romans 9:4,5). When Paul wrote today’s Scripture, God had already begun to set Israel and her program aside: Israel’s “diminishing” occurred between Acts chapters 7 and 28. Today, in this the Dispensation of Grace, Israel is temporarily spiritually “blinded” and “fallen” (Romans 11:11,12,25).

Compare today’s Scripture with Romans 10:1-3: “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. 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.”

Oh, how Jewish Paul grieved for lost (hell-bound) Israel, who ignored Christ’s finished crosswork (“the righteousness of God;” Romans 10:3 cf. 2 Corinthians 5:21)! They disregarded Paul’s Gospel of Grace (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). They rejected Christ’s bloodshed, death, burial, and resurrection, and emphasized “their own righteousness” (doing religious works, hoping to obtain salvation, but actually heading for eternal damnation). How we grieve for our family members who are equally religious (and equally lost)!!!

Paul preached Jesus Christ “that he might save some of them [Jews, his kinsmen according to the flesh]” (Romans 11:14). Be not discouraged! We will not save all of our family members. Nevertheless, we BOLDLY preach, for “some” “of [our] kinsmen according to the flesh” will trust Christ alone and be saved.

Christ Shall So Come in Like Manner

Saturday, June 2, 2012

“And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:10,11 KJV).

In Christendom, there is a strange teaching that the Second Coming of Christ is not a literal, physical, visible return, but rather a symbolic, invisible, spiritual coming to “rule in the hearts of men.” A spiritual, invisible Second Coming of Christ is utter nonsense, for today’s Scripture reduces such “wisdom” to nothing more than “spiritualizing to tell spiritual lies” (“the verse does not mean what it says” heresy).

When Jesus Christ appeared to His disciples post-resurrection, they “supposed that they had seen a spirit” (Luke 24:37). Notice Christ’s correction: “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet” (verses 39,40).

Christ’s resurrected body was a physical body that could be seen and touched, just like our bodies. According to verses 42,43, Jesus Christ even ate fish and honeycomb! Also, Jesus instructed “doubting Thomas” to touch the scars in His hands, feet, and side (John 21:24-29). Surely, Jesus’ body was literal, physical, and visible, and He was in this same body when He ascended to His Father as recorded in today’s Scripture.

Jesus went back to heaven literally, physically, and visibly, and the angels in today’s Scripture said, “Jesus…shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” Christ’s Second Coming will not involve some invisible spirit coming to earth. Jesus Christ will return to earth in His literal, visible, resurrected body of “flesh and bones.” In fact, Revelation 1:7 says the whole world (and the Jews of Zechariah 12:10) will literally see Jesus Christ at His Second Coming (to end the seven-year Tribulation).

333’s First Anniversary: Yet Not I, But the Grace of God

Friday, June 1, 2012

“But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10 KJV).

We rejoice in the Lord, for we reach a special milestone today: one full year of grace-oriented devotionals. We commemorate our first anniversary by joining our Apostle Paul in remembering: “Yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” (After all, this is “333 Words of Grace!”)

This past year, we were thrilled beyond words to know the great God and our Saviour was using this devotionals blog to lead people to salvation by His grace through faith in Christ Jesus, and to spiritually enlighten His people with sound dispensational Bible study (1 Timothy 2:3,4). But, again, it was not us, “but the grace of God.”

Paul could have continued wasting his life away by opposing God’s work (1 Corinthians 15:9, the verse preceding today’s Scripture). Instead, he chose to trust Christ Jesus as his Saviour, and Christ saved him by His grace. Thus, Paul, now God’s chief apostle to the Gentiles, could honestly say, “by the grace of God I am what I am.” Just as we could have wasted this past year in unbelief, we chose rather to rely on God’s grace by faith. Thus, we too honestly say, “by the grace of God [we are] what [we are].”

Much labour and prayer went into the past 366 devotionals, so that the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word could be exalted. How the grace and love of God worked in us this past year, and it is our great hope and prayer that He will continue this ministry.

Saints, we extend our utmost appreciation to you, whose input and prayer were not in vain. How we are so grateful to God, for without His grace, this ministry would not exist. And, above all, as we enter our second year, we remember, “not I, but the grace of God that [is] with me.” 🙂

Why Paul?

Thursday, May 31, 2012

“…Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth of Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity” (1 Timothy 2:5c-7 KJV).

One of the greatest blunders of the professing Church is the assumption that Paul’s ministry was an extension of the twelve apostles’ ministry. Many verses, including today’s Scripture, prove Paul’s ministry is separate from the twelve apostles. “Why Paul?” is a simple question, an inquiry which, had Christendom first proposed and then answered using the Bible, would have prevented the Biblical confusion that pervades churches today.

Today’s Scripture—“Christ Jesus… gave himself a ransom for all”—was not always true. In His earthly ministry, Jesus Himself claimed: “Even as the Son of man came… to give his life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). Is that a contradiction? NO! In Jesus’ earthly ministry, He was sent to “save his people [Israel] from their sins” (Matthew 1:21; cf. John 1:11; Romans 15:8). Peter and the eleven preached this message in the early Acts period (Acts 2:36-38; Acts 3:19,24-26; Acts 4:10-12; Acts 5:31; et al.).

Why Paul? Carefully re-read today’s Scripture: “…Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. Whereunto [To which] I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth of Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.”

It is not until we come to Paul’s ministry that we learn that Christ died for all (Jew and Gentile). This was the special message (the Gospel of the Grace of God) that the ascended Lord Jesus Christ committed to Paul alone (Galatians 1:11,12; Titus 1:2,3; 2 Timothy 2:8). This is why God made Paul an apostle!

God had a special Gospel He wanted preached to us Gentiles, but He could not use the twelve apostles to preach it (they had to convert Israel first; Matthew 10:5-7). Paul is our apostle, “the apostle of the Gentiles” (Romans 11:13). Thus, his epistles testify, Christ died for all—including us Gentiles (today’s Scripture).

We With Patience Wait for It

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

“But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it” (Romans 8:25 KJV).

We live in this fallen world, an environment abounding with despair, disease, and death. But, as Christians, we have hope. We patiently wait for the day when we shall be eternally delivered from the presence of sin and its accompanying miseries.

Since we have trusted Jesus Christ alone as our personal Saviour, God has spiritually redeemed us: our souls are no longer bound for hell because God has forgiven us our sins in Christ, and He has delivered us from the penalty of sin (Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14).

Spiritually, we are redeemed, but our physical bodies have yet to be redeemed. In the context of today’s Scripture (verses 18-24), the Apostle Paul discusses “the sufferings of this present time,” living in a world that is under the curse of sin (“the bondage of corruption” [verse 21] that God placed on creation in response to Adam’s sin [Genesis 3:16-19]).

Because of sin’s curse, every living creature suffers: “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now” (Romans 8:22). But even we Christians suffer sin’s curse! “And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (verse 23).

Thankfully, “For we are saved by hope” (verse 24a). This is not soul salvation, but salvation from despair and hopelessness. Yes, we suffer sickness and we will experience physical death (short of the rapture), but there is hope! At the rapture, we Christians will receive glorified physical bodies, bodies fashioned like unto Jesus Christ’s resurrected body, bodies that will be eternally delivered (“redeemed”) from sin, disease, and death (Philippians 3:20,21; cf. 1 Corinthians 15:50-58; Ephesians 4:30). The rapture is God’s method for healing in this the Dispensation of Grace: be not fooled by the “faith healers” of our day!

We join our Apostle in faith and hope, and declare (without sight; 2 Corinthians 5:7), “The rapture—we with patience wait for it!”

When Truth is Error #2

Sunday, May 27, 2012

“But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness” (2 Timothy 2:16 KJV).

Being scriptural is not enough. To follow God’s will you must also be dispensational. All of the Bible is for us, but not all of the Bible is to us or about us.

For example, Mosaic Law-keeping is biblical (Exodus 20:1-17). But, to whom are these Scriptures written and spoken? The nation Israel—not us. Additionally, millions of precious souls are basing their salvation on what Jesus said in Matthew 19:17 (cf. James 2:24): “…but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” This is scriptural, but not dispensational: it was true for Israel, but it is error for us.

Friend, if you are basing your salvation on your works, you are going to hell. Following salvation verses that God spoke to someone else is error: God never gave them to you. If you want salvation from your sins and hell, you MUST go to Paul for God’s current plan of salvation. Our doctrine is found only in Paul’s epistles (Romans through Philemon) (Romans 11:13).

We are not under Israel’s works-religion (legalistic) economy. God has replaced Israel’s works-religion acceptance system (our performance) with something better: the grace-based acceptance system, what Jesus Christ did for us at Calvary’s cross. “Ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:14b). In our dispensation, salvation is “to him that worketh not” (Romans 4:5).

The Gospel that saves you today is not Acts 2:38 or 1 John 1:9, but 1 Corinthians 15:1-4: “Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and He was raised again the third day.”

James 5:14,15 is error for us to practice, but it is truth in Israel’s program. This includes Revelation 3:20, Hebrews 6:4-6, 1 John 2:27, Matthew 24:13, John 20:22,23, Acts 2:4, Matthew 6:9-13, and Mark 16:15-20—verses that Christendom steals from Israel’s program and (wrongly) practices today.

Dispensational Bible study is critical to your soul salvation, as well as to your Christian health. You MUST use God’s Word, God’s way (“rightly dividing the word of truth;” 2 Timothy 2:15), or you will make truth error (today’s Scripture)….

When Truth is Error

Saturday, May 26, 2012

“But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness” (2 Timothy 2:16 KJV).

Did you know that you can quote Scripture and be outside of God’s will? Unfortunately, people have been doing it for millennia. Many “name and claim” Bible verses, only to end up confused and disappointed, sometimes spiritually destroyed, or even in hell. If “God is not the author of confusion” (1 Corinthians 14:33), how is this possible?

The Bible says in 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV: “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” If you refuse to obey this verse (like most of Christendom), you will automatically disobey today’s Scripture. When you do not rightly divide, separating Israel’s program from our program, you will not “shun profane and vain babblings.” This phony, empty chatter describes much of today’s “Christian” teaching and preaching!

All the Bible is true: “thy word is truth” (John 17:17). When we rightly divide the Word of Truth, we are separating truth from truth, not truth from error. For example, animal sacrifices were true for Israel, but they are not true for us. God’s instructions to build an ark were true for Noah; they are not true for us. When we steal Israel’s covenant promises and blessings and claim them for ourselves, we are not shunning profane and vain babblings as God instructed.

Trying to make God do something He is not doing today will only bring you misery. God promised Israel certain things that He has not promised us in this the Dispensation of Grace. We study the whole Bible, but we can only claim the promises found in Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon.

If we fail to rightly divide the Bible, truth becomes error. We quote verses that are not for us to practice, and today’s Scripture says, “they [the profane and vain babblings] will increase unto more ungodliness.” Being scriptural, but not dispensational, is “ungodly!”

Beware! Be not like most of Christendom. Failure to study the Bible dispensationally will cause you great confusion and heartache that will only grow worse and worse.

Vengeance Belongeth Unto the Lord #4

Thursday, May 24, 2012

“Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” (Romans 12:19 KJV).

Injustices abound. The wicked are applauded and often go unpunished while the righteous (God’s people) are despised and penalized. As the cliché goes, “God never sleeps.” All wrongs will be righted one day (today’s Scripture).

When the Lord Jesus Christ went to Calvary’s cross, He purchased our salvation. There, He suffered God’s eternal wrath against our sin: “He became sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21; cf. Isaiah 53:10; Matthew 26:46; Galatians 3:13). Once we trust Christ Jesus alone as our personal Saviour, Christ’s finished crosswork for our sins is applied (imputed) to us, and we will never suffer God’s wrath (Christ suffered that wrath for us).

However, those who physically die without having trusted Christ will remain forever dead in their trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23): physical and spiritual death. Thus, they must pay for those sins by suffering the eternal wrath of God against sin (the everlasting lake of fire; the “second [or spiritual] death” [Revelation 21:8]).

For the past 2,000 years, God has been offering the world His grace and peace. But, when this the Dispensation of Grace ends (at the rapture), God “shall speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure” (Psalm 2:5). During that seven-year Tribulation—“the day of the LORD’s vengeance” (Isaiah 34:8), “the day of vengeance of our God” (Isaiah 61:2), and “the days of vengeance” (Luke 21:22)—our wicked world will finally experience God’s righteous wrath. According to 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9, Christ’s Second Coming will conclude those seven years, and fire will further execute vengeance on God’s enemies (Christ-rejecters).

“God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked…” (Nahum 1:2,3).

Indeed, “vengeance belongeth unto the Lord….”