Category: Pauline Dispensationalism / Dispensational Bible Study

Do You Know Your Apostle?

Monday, June 6, 2011

“For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:” (Romans 11:13 KJV).

Who is your apostle? Today’s Scripture tells us it is Paul. Peter, James, and John are Israel’s apostles, not our apostles (Matthew 10:1-7; Galatians 2:9). Today, most “Christian” preaching is nothing but a watered-down version of the program God gave the nation Israel in time past. God’s current program involves Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon.

Only Paul’s epistles document God’s current dealings with man because God entrusted to Paul alone the Dispensation of Grace (present-day). The Lord Jesus sent Paul to be the apostle of the Church the Body of Christ (Romans 15:16; Ephesians 3:1-9; 1 Timothy 2:7; 2 Timothy 1:11).

Unfortunately, since most churches preach nothing but “tradition of men” (2 Corinthians 4:2; Colossians 2:8), the majority of Christians have no idea Paul is their apostle. Oftentimes, we hear in traditional theology to “go by what Jesus said.” Please understand that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are God’s message to Israel, NOT His message to us (Matthew 15:24; John 4:22; Romans 15:8).

Our Apostle Paul says we do not know Christ after His earthly ministry (2 Corinthians 5:16). Many emphasize Christ’s earthly ministry to the extent that they ignore Christ’s heavenly ministry as He reveals Himself in Paul’s writings. Following Paul’s ministry, we understand “the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery” (Romans 16:25).

Paul writes, “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 14:37). While many greatly hate this verse, God’s Word is the final authority.

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3:16). All 66 books of the Bible are God’s Word. We study all Scripture, Genesis through Revelation, but we always recognize the author of the passage, the audience, and then the content of the passage. God calls this “rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15 KJV).

Do You Rightly Divide the Word of Truth?

Sunday, June 5, 2011

“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).

This is the key to Bible study and understanding Bible “contradictions.” God designed His Word to be studied, not casually skimmed. God also wants us to study “rightly dividing the word of truth.” We seek to be “approved unto God”—we do not seek man’s approval! Christendom’s greatest error is its refusal to study God’s Word, God’s way.

God created two realms, the heaven and the earth (Genesis 1:1); He designed a program to govern each realm. The prophetic program is that “which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:21). Romans 16:25,26 speaks of the mystery program, “which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made manifest….” Every Bible verse fits into either the prophetic program or the mystery program. When we take verses from one program, and force them into the other program, Bible “contradictions” arise.

God’s people in the prophetic program are the nation Israel, His earthly people to whom He promised an earthly kingdom (Genesis 13:16; Genesis 17:8; Deuteronomy 4:38; 2 Samuel 7:23-25). God’s people in the mystery program are the Church the Body of Christ, His heavenly people to whom belongs the promise of a heavenly kingdom (2 Corinthians 5:1; Ephesians 1:3; Ephesians 2:6; Colossians 3:1-3).

Today, in the Dispensation of Grace, as members of the Body of Christ, Paul is our apostle (Romans 11:13). Everything that God has to say to us today in the mystery (secret) program is found in Paul’s 13 epistles, Romans through Philemon. The remainder of the Bible is God speaking to Israel concerning her prophetic program. All of the Bible is for us, but not all the Bible is to us or about us.

May we never take Israel’s doctrine and force it on others or ourselves. May we always seek God’s approval by “rightly dividing the word of truth!”