A conversation with a non-Dispensationalist, initiated by this post which asked if Paul taught about fasting.

A conversation with a non-Dispensationalist, initiated by this post which asked if Paul taught about fasting. I post it here because I believe it contains valuable information for people who are learning to study the Word and who are seeing the need to rightly dividing the scriptures.

REACTION:

This is part of the problem with Dispensationalism — we have the clear teaching from Jesus Himself that fasting is an essential part of spiritual life (not to mention unambiguous historical records of periodic fasting being normative going back to the very earliest days of Christianity), and then Dispensationalists come up with excuses to disregard it all.

RESPONSE:

My post does not forbode fasting. It simply informs that it is not an obligation, nor a necessity, nor a means, under grace.

The darkened reasoning of an Atheist is so superficial and pitiful. If only they’d chose to respond to those moments of grace that God gives them and see the light.

The darkened reasoning of an Atheist is so superficial and pitiful. If only they’d chose to respond to those moments of grace that God gives them and see the light.

ATHEIST'S COMMENT:

If the bible is to be understood verbatim there should be no need to keep ‘interpreting’ it to make the end result fit the reality you want it to be. If it can’t be understood verbatim then perhaps the logical answer is nothing more than a collection of fairy tales. People have literally written billions of interpretations of what they think the Bible ‘means’. That alone should be enough to question the veracity of this collection of fables and the illogical reasoning of some invisible being out there in Neverland.

REPLY:

The Bible is designed to interpret itself. Proper teaching of the Bible is to use references from other parts of the Bible to validate the parts one studies. The Bible tells us that prophecy cannot be understood by man's private interpretation, 2Pet 1:20. Thus, it is bad teachers who twist the Bible and try to force it to say what they want. The Bible (KJV) stands alone and is its own interpreter, and this is possible because God has preserved His Word above His name, Ps 138:2. Until you choose to believe it, it will not show you light. It is designed to hide the truth from those who are not spiritually discerned, 1Cor 2:10-14.

What if I believe in The Lord God but not Jesus? Jesus was a messenger. A prophet in my belief.

QUESTION:

What if I believe in The Lord God but not Jesus? Jesus was a messenger. A prophet in my belief.

ANSWER:

The message and focus of the grace gospel, which is the only gospel by which we can be saved today, proclaims the cross of Christ, see 1Cor 15:1–4. The focus is on what Jesus Christ did for us. It does not focus on His identity, which is of great importance in the Kingdom gospel.

However, I must add that if you are going to believe in the cross work of Christ; that His death is for the forgiveness of our sins, and His resurrection is for our justification before God, then it goes hand in hand that this sinless and utterly righteous life that Jesus lived is proof of His deity.

It’s not really viable to separate His deity from the cross. No man can die for my sins because all men have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. How can a sinner die for my sins??

Is Israel's program suspended throughout Christ's heavenly ministry?

Is Israel's program suspended throughout Christ's heavenly ministry?

QUESTION:

You quote Rom 11:25 about the blinding of Israel, but the very next verse clarifies that God has not suspended His plan with Israel but that they would all still be rescued. Rather God encourages them doing so by opening the door to the Gentiles via Paul. Please explain. 

Also, I find it interesting but rather strange that you conclude that Jesus has two ministries. The triune God is the Alpha and the Omega and knew from the very beginning all that would unfold in future. What is your meaning on this?

ANSWER:

The word "suspend", (as in, God would suspend His plans for Israel), is just that. It does not mean cancelled. The plan for Israel is temporarily halted, by design of our all-knowing God, and because of the unbelief of Israel. During this suspension, God is saving all men (Jews and Gentiles) by means of grace, through the cross work of Christ. This too was in the plan of God because God's plan is two-fold. He will use Israel to restore the earth and He will use the Body of Christ to restore the heavens.

DM#17: Who is a minister to whom?

Doctrine of the Mysteries #17

Who is a minister to whom?

Rom 15:8 Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:

Many people would read this sentence and not even notice the specific audience mentioned to whom Jesus ministered. Detail like this is important and should not be ignored if one desires to understand the Bible in its true context.

Paul tells us that Jesus Christ was a minister to the circumcision. Thus, Jesus ministered specifically to Israel. This statement cannot simply be dismissed as irrelevant as we have confirmation from Jesus himself,

DM#11: Blindness in part is happened to Israel

Doctrine of the Mysteries #11

Blindness in part is happened to Israel 

Paul’s 13-epistles constitute the ‘mystery doctrine’. It is Paul himself that describes his inspired writings as mysteries,

1Cor 4:1  Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.

Eph 3:3  How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,

He calls his writings mysteries, not because they were mysterious or enigmatic, but because they were a secret that was never revealed before. Paul tells us that what he made known, “was kept secret since the world began, but now made manifest”, Rom 16:25-26. Paul uses the words, “but now”, many times in his epistles, as it indicates that things were a certain way before, but now, by God’s design, they were replaced by a new set of doctrinal principles, and these principles were never prophesied and made known in the prophetic scriptures.

Accounting for the sequential order of Paul’s epistles in the Bible, the very first mystery that we encounter, is the blinding of Israel, as quoted below,