Category: Apostle Peter

Understand and Enjoy the Bible! #6

Sunday, January 10, 2016

“And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:15,16 KJV).

Although there is so much confusion about it, can we really understand and enjoy the Bible? (Yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes!)

How did such overwhelming confusion originate? (Lost people fabricating false Bibles and not using the true Bible God’s way!) Where, O where, is God’s answer to the extensive misunderstandings about His Word? (In His Word, plain and simple!) How could He have allowed His Word to become so muddled up? (Blame sinful man, not God!) What can we do to save ourselves from such Biblical ignorance? (In His Word, plain and simple!)

Today’s Scripture contains seven related, and yet separate, lines of thought. We will take a week to look at them. Then, we will summarize both verses and all seven points. For now, note in today’s Scripture: (1) The “longsuffering of our Lord is salvation,” (2) “Our beloved brother Paul” had “wisdom given unto him” and he wrote it down, (3) Peter admitted that “some things” Paul spoke were “hard to be understood,” (4) People who were “unlearned and unstable” were “wresting”—twisting, mixing up—Paul’s epistles, (5) Paul’s epistles were “Scripture,” (6) The non-Pauline Bible books were also “Scripture,” and (7) Those failing to use the Bible properly—especially Paul’s books—were inflicting spiritual “destruction” upon themselves and their audiences.

The Berean Bible student will carefully consider these two verses from the Apostle Peter’s farewell epistle. Friends and brethren, those words show us where the Church the Body of Christ went terribly wrong 2,000 years ago. People using Scripture to further Satan’s agenda is nothing new. People corrupting God’s Word is nothing new. People perverting the Bible to corrupt souls is nothing new. People confusing others about the Scriptures is nothing new. People confused about the Holy Bible is nothing new. Praise God for His simple answers to this colossal mess!

Our latest Bible Q&A: “Do John 5:31 and John 8:14 contradict each other?”

Understand and Enjoy the Bible! #5

Saturday, January 9, 2016

“And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:15,16 KJV).

Although there is so much confusion about it, can we really understand and enjoy the Bible?

There are three primary reasons why there is such extensive argument about what the Bible actually says. Thirdly, people who do not use God’s Word God’s way cannot understand and teach the Bible correctly. Notice 2 Timothy 2:15: “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Keep reading the passage, friend! “[16] But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. [17] And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; [18] Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.” Hymenaeus and Philetus were teaching “the resurrection is past already.” This involves a timeline—past, present, and future. These two men were not denying the doctrine of resurrection; they were merely saying “the resurrection” had already happened. Also, the context is not Jesus Christ’s resurrection. It is the false teaching that Christians have already been resurrected.

By Hymenaeus and Philetus telling Christians that Christians had already been resurrected, Christians who had not experienced that resurrection thus doubted their salvation (“overthrow the faith of some”). Innumerable precious believers have been duped in the centuries since Hymenaeus and Philetus. Christendom abounds with smooth-talking church leaders who “teach” the Bible but who do not teach it “rightly divided.” They are not “dividing” things that God has divided; they have thoroughly mixed the Bible verses. No wonder the professing church is so mixed-up and impotent today! May all the lost people hush, may all the false Bible users shush, and may all the non-dispensationalists hush, so confusion can subside and spiritual light can enter!

Understand and Enjoy the Bible! #4

Friday, January 8, 2016

“And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:15,16 KJV).

Although there is so much confusion about it, can we really understand and enjoy the Bible?

There are three primary reasons why there is such extensive argument about what the Bible actually says. Secondly, people who do not have God’s Word cannot understand and teach the Bible correctly. Notice 2 Corinthians 2:17: “For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.”

People have corrupted Scripture, whether the first century or the twenty-first. Read 2 Thessalonians 2:2: “That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.” Someone wrote a letter, forged Paul’s name on it, and then sent it to Thessalonica to pass it off as “God’s Word.” Satan’s ministers also did that centuries prior to Paul: “Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD” (Jeremiah 23:32).

Between the first century A.D. and our present-day, many manuscripts and versions have been passed off as “God’s Word.” Friends, we would be fools to think they are all authentic. Beware of the modern-version forgeries! And yet, unbelieving “scholarship”—or saved people misled by unbelieving “scholarship”—values them and uses their “scholarly” (ha!) readings to correct God’s infallible Word. If someone is not using the proper Bible text (in English, the King James Bible), they have no business whatsoever in speaking or writing anything related to the Book they do not have.

Understand and Enjoy the Bible! #3

Thursday, January 7, 2016

“And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:15,16 KJV).

Although there is so much confusion about it, can we really understand and enjoy the Bible?

There are three primary reasons why there is extensive argument about what the Bible actually says. Firstly, people who do not have God’s Spirit cannot understand and teach His Word correctly. Notice 1 Corinthians chapter 2: “[13] Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. [14] But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

Ephesians chapter 1 says that we receive the Holy Spirit by believing on Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork as sufficient payment for our sins: “[13] In whom [Christ] ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, [14] Which is the earnest of our inheritance….”

If someone has not believed the Gospel of Grace alone for salvation, he or she does not have the Holy Spirit, and thus is incapable of accurately commenting on Scripture. Innumerable pastors, deacons, priests, seminary professors, Bible translators, and teachers have no business whatsoever in speaking or writing anything about the Book whose Author they lack. And yet, these are the very people writing the vast majority of “Christian” literature, teaching in most “Christian” institutions, and preaching on most “Christian” radio and television stations. They do not have God the Holy Spirit as their Teacher, so they are unqualified to be our teachers in God’s Word. They are doing nothing but using human intellect to guess what the Bible teaches. May they hush so confusion can subside!

Understand and Enjoy the Bible! #2

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

“And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:15,16 KJV).

Although there is so much confusion about it, can we really understand and enjoy the Bible?

Friends, the Bible is a big Book. The King James Bible contains 1,189 chapters; 31,101 verses; and 791,328 words. Unfortunately, a very small fraction of readers ever make it through them all. If they do finish reading the Bible through, even fewer understand what they read. Why?

It takes little to discourage people from putting down the Bible altogether—the various “Bible-believing” (ha!) groups that argue, the modern translations with their arduous Latinized words, the commentaries that all teach opposing ideas about the same verses, the symbolic and other “cryptic” passages, the scoffers and skeptics’ chuckles, and the stigma of believing “the Word of God” in this “day and age of education, empiricism, reason, and sophistication.” We can only wonder how any Bible readers in their understanding ever get past the opening verse: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

Once, I read a Bible commentary in which the author lamented, “Preachers have done a great job in confusing people in the Scriptures.” Imagine—he wrote that almost 50 years ago! Yes, 99 percent of church leaders have utterly failed in educating their people in God’s Word. They taught them great stories, told them hilarious jokes, and led them in “epic” “worship” songs and dances, but what really mattered most—the eternal Word of God being deposited into the eternal souls of people—was at the bottom of the ecclesiastical agenda (if at all). What did JEHOVAH God say of Israel’s lackadaisical religious leaders misguiding God’s nation centuries before Christ? “Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” (Jeremiah 23:1). There are many “destroyed” and “scattered” church members even today, but there is hope!

Our first Bible Q&A of 2016: “Should we pray for ‘safe trips’ and ‘traveling mercies?’”

Understand and Enjoy the Bible! #1

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

“And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:15,16 KJV).

Although there is so much confusion about it, can we really understand and enjoy the Bible?

Friend, the Holy Bible, if you use it properly, can be the most edifying Book in your life. Conversely, if you use it wrongly, it will be the most destructive Book in your life. Simply glance at the professing “Christian church” today to see there is nothing but spiritual destruction. There is widespread fussing and fighting, and as Paul wrote in Galatians 5:15, church members are “biting and devouring one another” figuratively speaking.

The sad fact is that most of these people are not endeavoring to teach God’s truth. They are attempting to defend their denominational tenets and church traditions. Read their books. View their television programs or Internet videos. Listen to their podcasts or radio shows. They use the Bible text only when it says something they want to teach and do. Otherwise, they simply twist the Scriptures and force them to say something else, or they fabricate Scripture without so much as one blush. Is there any hope in ever resolving all of the doctrinal disputes? Can God’s Word really be a blessing in our lives instead of a burden?

Friends, during the next two weeks, we will examine today’s Scripture in great detail. These two verses—some of the clearest in all the Word of God on the subject—caution us concerning the great dangers of mishandling Scripture. Long before the 40,000 denominations of Christendom appeared, the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Peter had issued an express warning. Beloved, if we are to recover ourselves from this most miserable amalgamation of twisted Bible verses and pagan error masquerading as Bible truth, we had better come to God’s Word, God’s way… and ever so quickly!

Rise Up, LORD! #3

Sunday, November 15, 2015

“And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, LORD, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee. And when it rested, he said, Return, O LORD, unto the many thousands of Israel” (Numbers 10:35,36 KJV).

What does today’s Scripture mean?

Remembering that this passage has a prophetic counterpart to mirror it, we ask, what is the significance of JEHOVAH God “rising?” We know Psalm 68, which parallels Moses’ words, involves Jesus Christ’s Second Coming in wrath. But, in the future, from where exactly will He be “rising?” And why is He “moving from a lower position to a higher one?”

Mark 16:19 says that, after 40 days of post-resurrection ministry, Jesus Christ “was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.” Psalm 110:1 predicted 1,000 years earlier: “The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” In His magnificent Pentecost sermon, the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Peter interpreted for us: “This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted… For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thy foes thy footstool” (Acts 2:32-35).

Jesus Christ would sit at His Father’s right hand in heaven temporarily. He would not sit there forever. When it was time for Father God to judge and conquer His enemies, then Jesus Christ would stand. “Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him” (Psalm 68:1). In Acts chapter 2, Peter warned unbelieving Israel about that wrath to come—the Man they had rejected and murdered was alive and coming back to deal with them. “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (verse 38). That was the only way for Israel to be prepared for her Messiah’s return. Did national Israel hearken to Peter’s words? No, and thus, Jesus Christ stood.

Our latest Bible Q&A: “Why did God give Israel King Saul if Saul was evil?”

Satan and Dispensationalism #14

Monday, October 19, 2015

“For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:” (Ephesians 3:1,2 KJV).

Satan knows that Dispensational Bible Study is the key to understanding God’s Word. Thus, he denies it and corrupts it every chance he gets!

If there is confusion about any one Bible book, it is definitely Acts. That book has been so pathetically mistreated, so twisted out of shape—it makes one’s spiritual stomach turn and churn. Sadly, within a growing segment of the “Grace Movement,” we find people who have corrupted the book of Acts to promote their agenda just as denominationalists do with their own traditions.

Friend, learn exactly where all the trouble originates and guard yourself. Dispensationalists often needlessly struggle with Acts chapters 7 through 28. True, therein is much “rapid scene-switching” in the Biblical narrative. Jerusalem, Antioch, Rome. Peter, Paul, Peter, Paul. Israel, Body of Christ, Israel, Body of Christ. Jews, Gentiles, Jews, Gentiles. Strangely, we find Paul engaging in “Jewish” behavior amongst Gentiles. He physically circumcised Timothy, water baptized Gentile converts, raised a dead man, healed the sick, took a Jewish vow, went to the Temple to offer a sacrifice, and so on. What people assume is that our program and our Body of Christ did not operate until Paul ceased those activities. They want to say Paul continued Israel’s covenants and program for a time (Acts). After Acts, they assume our program (dispensation) and our Body of Christ began.

Listen, friends. Let us stop the nonsense. If we are confused about Acts, the best thing to do is stay silent and study instead of babbling about something we know little about. More harm than good has resulted in people prattling about Acts, even some in the Grace Movement. It is quite simple, beloved. Acts is Paul’s provoking ministry to unbelieving Jews! Go read Romans 11:11-14. Paul was not conducting that odd ministry for our benefit. He was doing it for lost Jews to join our program because their prophetic program had been interrupted. Like him, their only hope of eternal life was to join—not Israel—but the Body of Christ.

Our latest Bible Q&A: “Who are those ‘afar off’ in Acts 2:39?”

The Truth of the Gospel

Monday, September 14, 2015

“But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified” (Galatians 2:14-16 KJV).

What is “the truth of the gospel?”

The Gospel of the Grace of God is how God’s grace is manifested to us through Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork. “Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and He rose again the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:3,4). “Being justified [declared righteous by God] freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God” (Romans 3:24,25).

“The truth of the gospel” (today’s Scripture) is that we are saved today by simple faith in Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary alone. Works are not the issue (water baptism, dietary laws, confession, commandment-keeping, and so on). Had our works been enough to give us a right standing before God, Jesus could have stayed in heaven!

Peter’s error in today’s Scripture was that he encouraged Law-keeping among Paul’s Gentile converts. Paul’s converts were under no such legalistic commands. Neither are we. “Ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:14b). Paul rightly rebuked Peter. In our Dispensation of Grace, God has abolished Israel’s system of works, and ushered in the system of grace. Paul would sadly rebuke many Christians today, those who incessantly mix law and grace. His words to Peter would echo throughout Christendom, “Ye walk not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel!”

Our latest Bible Q&A: “Can you explain Galatians 2:11-16?”

James and Dispensationalism

Friday, August 28, 2015

“And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things” (Acts 15:13-17 KJV).

What can the Apostle James teach us about dispensational Bible study?

In the famous Jerusalem Council of A.D. 50; James, Peter, and John heard Paul and Barnabas give their testimony of Paul’s ministry (verse 12). Israel’s God had indeed left her and was now reaching the Gentiles through Paul. James commented with today’s Scripture, quoting Amos 9:11,12: “[11] In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: [12] That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the Lord that doeth this.”

Obviously, “After this” was not in Amos’ original prophecy: James added it to interpret the passage according to the divine revelation he learned from Paul. Interestingly, Amos knew nothing of our Dispensation of Grace or of the Church the Body of Christ. (Simeon/Peter had an experience with Gentile Cornelius years earlier, in chapter 10, helping both him and James understand God was going to the Gentiles.)

Like the other Old Testament prophets, the Prophet Amos foretold that, one day, Jesus Christ would return to fulfill the Davidic Covenant (cf. Luke 1:31-33). He would be Israel’s King, thereby making her His kingdom of priests. But, what happened to Peter and Paul caused James to realize prophecy was delayed. Peter wrote about it in his second epistle, chapter 3, also learning from Paul. Yes, James agreed, Israel’s kingdom is coming, just not today!

Our latest Bible Q&A: “I experienced difficult times. Was God chastening me?”