Category: Pauline Dispensationalism / Dispensational Bible Study

Sanctified Through God’s Truth

Thursday, November 1, 2018

“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17:17 KJV).

Jesus Christ prayed to His Heavenly Father for His followers in Israel’s program (especially His Apostles—verse 12). He would do likewise for us today in the Dispensation of Grace.

Sanctification is not to be confused with justification. The former is to be “set apart for the purpose for which God intended;” the latter means “declared righteous before God.” One must be justified (righteousness imputed to his account) before he can be sanctified (useful to God’s work—“holy,” a “saint”).

Just moments before His arrest, Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane communes with Father God by praying throughout John chapter 17. Verse 8 is crucial to grasping today’s Scripture: “For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me: and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.” Now, verse 14: “I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”

The Lord was not praying for His followers to be saved unto eternal life (they were already justified). What He desired was spiritual fruit, their identity in Him being manifested in the form of works. Father God’s Word—which He (Jesus) had just taught them for over three years—would be how the Holy Father would use those men for His purposes. He would send His Holy Spirit (Acts chapter 2) to empower them according to the words He had already given them in Christ’s earthly ministry. That message would be further expanded once the Holy Spirit came (see John 14:26; John 15:25-27; John 16:7-14).

“For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe” (1 Thessalonians 2:13). Saints, God’s Word to us—Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon—will effectually work in us on a daily basis if we believe it. Then, we too will be “sanctified through [God’s] truth!”

Arrayed in Hypocrisy

Wednesday, October 31, 2018

“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.

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

The Truth Through Time

Tuesday, October 30, 2018

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:3,4 KJV).

As someone once wisely observed, “The first generation loves the truth, the second generation tolerates the truth, and the third generation snubs the truth.”

Today’s Scripture contains some of the Apostle Paul’s parting words to young Pastor Timothy. Verses 13-17 of the third chapter had said, “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”

In light of how the Holy Bible (rightly divided) can deliver us from the doctrinal error running rampant, the Holy Spirit opens chapter 4: “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.” (Notice today’s Scripture within.)

A culture saturated with God’s Word will gradually be weaned from it if its leaders do not faithfully transfer those truths to the next generation. “And the things that thou hast heard of me [Paul] among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2). Brethren, may we be here “faithful!”

Special-edition Bible Q&A #550: “What does the Bible say about ‘ghosts?’”

Believe What You Want!

Monday, October 29, 2018

“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. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do” (Hebrews 4:12,13 KJV).

Beware, friend! The Bible will let you believe whatever you want!

Long ago, I wondered how Almighty God could let people use His Word to teach false doctrine. After all, they appealed to Scripture and still wound up confused: quoting the Bible, they taught the most heretical, apostate, blasphemous ideas. Need a verse to prove water baptism saves? Mark 16:16! Want a passage to show that eating Christ’s physical body and drinking His physical blood imparts eternal life? John 6:53-57! Need a verse to demonstrate that Jesus is just a Man and not God? Mark 13:32! Want to emphasize legalism as pleasing to God today? Matthew 19:16-17!

The Holy Bible (King James Bible in English) is plain and clear to any soul honestly and humbly seeking God’s truth. However, most who use it are simply looking for proof texts to defend their denomination. They do not want Scripture to say what it says where it says it when it says it and to whom it says it. Actually, since they are filled with religious arrogance (what God’s Book knows—yes, knows!!—about them), He has supplied verses to validate their pet positions! The result? Millions upon millions upon millions going to Hell… while quoting Scripture!!! Millions of Christians losing reward at the Judgment Seat of Christ… while quoting Scripture!!!

Certainly, God’s Word is no ordinary Book. It is “a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (today’s Scripture). The Bible reads us as we read it! It, being supernatural, evaluates our heart attitude and aim. If we approach it snubbing its dispensational layout (2 Timothy 2:15), we can expect nothing but difficulty and destruction (2 Peter 3:15-18). The God of the Bible values free will—yea, we are free to even deliberately choose error (Romans 1:18-32)!

333’s 2700th – The Pillar and Ground of the Truth

Sunday, October 21, 2018

“These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly: But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:14,15 KJV).

Dear brethren, only by God’s grace, devotional #2700 has arrived!

One faithful reader just commented—like others have through the years—that our studies are direct (to the point). There is little, if any, deviation from the study’s theme. Of course, this is all by design, as the author intended that from day 1! He knows that so many poor souls have been overwhelmed concerning Scripture. The way they have been taught to approach the Bible is exceedingly arduous, quite complicated, wholly confusing. He knows those frustrations firsthand, and has thus striven to help you, the readers, avoid as much of that spiritual darkness and superfluity as possible.

Friends, these past 2,700 days have been a real joy! 🙂 Such tremendous spiritual changes have occurred in us all, so praise our Lord Jesus Christ! Indeed, when we “just release the lion from his cage, he will defend himself.” We simply distributed God’s Word, and it took care of itself. Almighty God does not need us, but we have been given the privilege of sharing the Holy Scriptures with others. What an honor!

We the Body of Christ are “the house of God… the church of the living God” (today’s Scripture). His Holy Spirit lives in and through us as we walk by faith in an intelligent understanding of His Word to us (Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon). We are “the pillar and ground of the truth.” As a “pillar,” we hold the truth up high, displaying it for all to see. We are the “ground” because we support, maintain, or undergird the truth. This is not a denominational system, organized religion, advocating pet doctrines and opinions of men; rather, it is the true Church the Body of Christ proclaiming the Word of Christ, that the Word of Christ might dwell in them richly (Colossians 3:16), that Christ might be formed in them (Galatians 4:19).

Thank you for your prayerful support. Onward now to higher ground, and devotional #2800! 🙂

Our latest Bible Q&A: “Is it sinful for women to wear makeup?”

The Hottest Places in Eternity #11

Thursday, October 4, 2018

“And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city” (Mark 6:11 KJV).

Are there degrees of punishment in Hell and the Lake of Fire? Indeed!

Lost individuals who received more Divine revelation will be held more accountable before Almighty God (cf. today’s Scripture): “Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.”

The LORD God gave His Word to Israel and her leaders (Deuteronomy 4:6-8; Psalm 147:19,20; Romans 3:1,2; Romans 9:4,5; et cetera). Gentiles (nations, non-Jews) were not given the Old Testament Bible. As concerning “time past” (or pre-Apostle Paul; cf. Ephesians 2:11-13), God will judge Israel more harshly than He will the Gentiles. Israel had greater spiritual light than the Gentiles, yet Israel lived just as wickedly (Romans 2:17-29)! Of all those in time past, unbelievers during Christ’s earthly ministry will face more serious condemnation than those who lived previously (cf. today’s Scripture).

Out of all the dispensations, frankly, our Dispensation of Grace will carry the worst eternal penalty. Lost people who have died during the last 2,000 years (and onward until the Rapture) have rejected God’s full revelation. They spurned a completed Bible, the most information the Creator ever revealed to mankind (Colossians 1:23-29; 2 Timothy 3:16,17)!!! If Jesus Christ declared His contemporaries would be more strictly judged than Sodom and Gomorrah because they had more spiritual light (Divine revelation) than Sodom and Gomorrah, how much more judgment for those lost today who have a completed Bible and ignored the LORD God’s counsel entirely? Horrors!!!

Friends, the message of God’s salvation available in the Lord Jesus Christ has circulated the globe now for 20 centuries. How kind He has been, how gracious, how longsuffering! With each passing day, unsaved mankind refuses His goodness. “But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God” (Romans 2:5). Indeed, the lost are rejecting the Gospel of Grace and “treasuring up wrath….”

The Hottest Places in Eternity #3

Wednesday, September 26, 2018

“And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city” (Mark 6:11 KJV).

Are there degrees of punishment in Hell and the Lake of Fire? Indeed!

Luke 16:19-31 describes a most horrible place. Nevertheless, damned souls face an even worse fate. Hell is a temporary jailhouse, a spiritual place where unsaved souls suffer until the Great White Throne Judgment. They are already guilty sinners, condemned to bear forever the wrath of an offended, righteous God. Now, they await their sentencing—the Lake of Fire, the universe’s maximum-security prison!

After our Dispensation of Grace terminates with the Rapture, Israel’s seven-year Tribulation runs its course, Jesus Christ returns to Earth at His Second Coming, and He reigns for 1,000 years. Revelation 20:11-15 picks up the Bible timeline thereafter.

“[11] And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. [12] And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. [13] And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. [14] And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. [15] And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

Notice verse 13. “Death” is all lost people who have not yet physically died. “Hell” is all the unsaved of the ages who have physically died (they will be bodily resurrected—see verses 5-6). These two classes will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ to give an account for their deeds, after which He throws them into the Lake of Fire….

Our latest Bible Q&A: “‘Thou shalt not kill?’ or ‘Thou shalt not murder?’”

Words Precious

Sunday, September 23, 2018

“He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the LORD” (Psalm 147:19,20 KJV).

“What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God” (Romans 3:1,2).

Ephesians 2:11-12 tells us: “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; 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:….”

In “time past,” the nation Israel had a special privilege. She had been given the words of the living and true God. Romans 9:4,5: “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; Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.”

Moses said to Israel in Deuteronomy 4:6-8: “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. 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? 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?”

Israel, however, did not keep herself doctrinally pure. She threw aside the words of God in order to pick up the traditions of men. May we Gentiles learn from her mistake, and not repeat it! “Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine” (1 Timothy 4:13). “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).

Translated Judgment #7

Saturday, September 22, 2018

“In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord. Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe” (1 Corinthians 14:21,22 KJV).

While it is commonly overlooked, today’s Scripture describes God’s righteous judgment on a certain group of unbelievers. Who are they? What is God’s message to them? Who is delivering that message?

First Corinthians chapter 14 outlines the seven rules that regulated the gift of tongues (which gift the Corinthians were abusing). When the Holy Spirit was involved, these seven principles were always in place. Any deviation, even slightly, meant that the experience was artificial and satanic. Someone was striving in his or her flesh to mimic or counterfeit God’s work.

Primarily, tongues served as a sign to the nation Israel (today’s Scripture). Secondly, two—or maximum, three—individuals were to speak in tongues during one meeting (verse 27). Thirdly, the speakers had to take turns, and not talk over each other (verse 27). Fourthly, the tongue had to be translated or the speaker was to remain silent (verses 27,28). Fifthly, only men spoke in tongues (verses 34,35). Sixthly, the translated tongue was to conform to Pauline doctrine (verses 37,38). Lastly, there was to be decency, order, self-control (verse 40). These seven rules describe the only type of speaking in tongues the Holy Spirit has ever (!) endorsed!

It was particularly important that tongues be translated. This interpretation allowed unsaved Jews to not only hear a foreign language (recognizing God’s judgment on their nation), but also learn God’s Word in their own native tongue (whatever it happened to be). An intelligible message, as opposed to gibberish, afforded them an opportunity to be convicted of their sin and converted to faith in Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. Now that that Acts transitional period is over, God dealing with Israel has passed, so the spiritual gifts have ceased (1 Corinthians 13:8-13). We have a completed Bible, total revelation from God, and thus temporary spiritual gifts and fragmentary revelation are unnecessary (2 Timothy 3:16,17; cf. Colossians 1:25-27).

Our two latest Bible Q&As: “Did Saul of Tarsus ever meet Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry?” and “Did Paul just hear Jesus’ voice, or did he see Him, too?”

Translated Judgment #6

Friday, September 21, 2018

“In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord. Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe” (1 Corinthians 14:21,22 KJV).

While it is commonly overlooked, today’s Scripture describes God’s righteous judgment on a certain group of unbelievers. Who are they? What is God’s message to them? Who is delivering that message?

Here are two simple Bible verses that will revolutionize the way you view God’s Word. “For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom” (1 Corinthians 1:22). “Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe” (John 4:48). Signs are Israel’s national heritage (see Psalm 74:9). When we come to today’s Scripture, we thus see that one of these “signs” is the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues: “Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not….” The unbelievers during the Acts period were the nation Israel (Acts 9:23,24; Acts 13:45-48; Acts 17:5,13; Acts 18:6,12; et cetera).

In Isaiah’s day, Israel hearing foreign languages meant that her LORD God’s judgment had fallen on her for her unbelief and disobedience. Similarly, Israel hearing the gift of tongues working amongst Paul’s Gentile converts signified to Israel that her God was now operating in the world without her. It was a drastic change in program. God had taken the spiritual gifts—what had belonged to Israel—and given them over to the Gentiles. The gift of tongues operated amongst Paul’s Gentile converts so as to provoke to salvation in Christ the unsaved Jews scattered around the world.

The gift of tongues was not meant to be entertainment (as the Corinthians were using it—see 1 Corinthians chapter 14), but rather a clear testimony to Israel. It was important that the Corinthians correct their abuses of this most special spiritual gift. Today’s Body of Christ would do well to take heed to these verses, and address and fix their misunderstandings and misuses of spiritual gifts….

Bible Q&A #535: “Who are the ‘Grecians’ in the Bible?”