Q&A Concerning Rightly Dividing and Jesus versus Paul

Q&A Concerning Rightly Dividing and Jesus versus Paul

QUESTION (on social media):

Why do people say "You don't have to obey Jesus because Paul said we are saved by grace?" Jesus said whoever doesn't obey his words, is building on sand. (Matthew 7:24-27) Paul was for Jesus.

MY REPLY:

ALL the words that Jesus spoke are spirit and life, Jn.6:63, but we must take note to WHOM Jesus spoke. In his earthly ministry, Jesus spoke to the Jews. His entire earthly ministry was directed to his people to save them so that Israel could be a light to the Gentiles, as prophecy describes. Jesus himself says the following,

Mat_15:24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. (See also Matt.10:5–6)

In John 10v16, who are the OTHER SHEEP in Jesus fold?

In John 10:16, who are the OTHER SHEEP in Jesus fold?

STATEMENT:

Jesus also said that he has sheep of another fold but during his ministry it was not yet time to be fulfilled to the Jew first and then to the Gentiles and Cornelius and his entire family received the Holy Ghost.

ANSWER:

Cornelius and his family were saved under the Kingdom program because they received and believed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, Act 10:36,42–43. The focus of Peter’s message and the offer of salvation pertained to the identity of Christ, not to the significance of the cross and justification by faith (aka: the Grace program). Furthermore, this Gentile household received the Holy Spirit and got water baptized, which is not conditions required in the Garce gospel. So, the point I make here is that we are still in the Kingdom program here, not in the Grace program, and Cornelius and his family were added to Israel’s kingdom and to the sheepfold of the Good Shepherd.

Now, concerning the “Other Sheep”. Who are they? Let’s see what the bible says about it.

God’s Multipart Plan to Redeem HEAVEN and EARTH (Part 1)

God’s Multipart Plan to Redeem HEAVEN and EARTH (Part 1)

If you look carefully at the timeline in the image, something is missing. You might even be able to identify the missing part without taking the clue from the books of the bible indicated in the bottom row.

Did you identify the missing part? Well, if you don’t know about rightly dividing (2Tim.2:15), and you are not familiar with the mystery doctrine of Paul, you would have needed the clue using the book names in the bottom row. If this is you, then I want to encourage you to take note and learn from this series of posts, as this will improve your interpretation of scripture, and provide you a deeper and more profound understanding of the Word of truth.

Now, let me start with the very first verse in the bible. Believe it or not, but it contains a very important key to understanding scripture,

Gen 1:1  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

The Four Cornerstones of Romans (Part 11: Dispensational Wisdom)

Start this post series from the beginning, here.

The Four Cornerstones of Romans (Part 11: Dispensational Wisdom)

The epistle of Romans is the foundational epistle of the Christian faith. An analysis of its contents reveals that the letter can be divided into four parts, each part representing a cornerstone of the Christian faith. Missing any one of these four cornerstones, the faith foundation of a Christian can become compromised and shaky. It is vitally important to have a good understanding of each of these four cornerstones to ensure that the foundation of your faith is stable and secure.

In this series we have already covered the first two cornerstones, (1) God's Righteousness, and (2) God's Grace. The third cornerstone of Romans is "Dispensational Wisdom". Since my entire blog is based on a dispensational view of scripture, I'm not going to write much about this cornerstone, but rather point you to specific posts that I have already written in the past.

(LLTB) Why is Israel God's chosen people?

Learning Point The Lord thy God hath chosen thee [Israel] to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.  Deut.7:6

Why is Israel God's chosen people?

In this post I mentioned that most of the bible is written for Israel, God's chosen nation, and that most of the bible is addressed to, and is applicable to them. Why is this? How did Israel get to be God's chosen nation? What happened in the past to get us to the reality of this scenario? Well, let me explain this in a very summarized way.

Understanding and Interpreting the Bible (Part 5B)

Understanding and Interpreting the Bible

(Part 5B --- Dividing the PROGRAMS)

In our last post, Part 5A, we took a high level look at the two programs, simply discussing what they are and how they are different. I'd like to wrap up this series of lessons on "Understanding and Interpreting the Bible", by confirming the scriptural proof of the divisions n the programs of Israel and the Body of Christ.

As a reminder, the below picture illustrates that we have two main parts to God's overarching redemption plan. The realms of earth and heaven, physical and spiritual. Within each of these realms, we have a people group (or agency). Earth will be inherited to Israel, and heaven will be filled with the Body of Christ. We covered these details in depth in previous posts. To clarify the 'program' portions of the image below, I can describe it as follows. The programs are the actionable components of the two divided parts. They portray the 'modus operandi' of the two people groups. The details of the programs identify the people groups based on things like signs, law, prophecy as opposed to faith, grace and mystery. There have different gospels and different destinations. Whatever is defined in the programs provides the identity, lifestyle and actions that the people do and believe.

Let's now turn our attention to facts, by pointing to scriptures that clearly show a difference in the two programs. Just like the realms and agencies, the programs should also be kept distinct and separate, by avoiding the mixing of scriptures which would create a doctrine that is skewed, and false, and dangerous.

Understanding and Interpreting the Bible (Part 5A)

Understanding and Interpreting the Bible

(Part 5A --- Dividing the PROGRAMS)

Up to this point, we have looked at what it means to divide the REALMS and the AGENCIES. Let's place our attention on dividing the PROGRAMS within these two agencies. I'll start with a high level overview of the programs within these two groups.

Firstly, what is "programs"? I use this work to describe how each of the agencies (people groups) function. You could describe it as the operations, or procedures, or processes, or actions, that define the people group. In essence it is how you identify them. It is their "Modus Operandi".

Let's start with the agency of Israel. Please enlarge the following image and study its content. I'll discuss this image and clarify it's content.

Understanding and Interpreting the Bible (Part 4B)

Understanding and Interpreting the Bible

(Part 4B --- Dividing the AGENCIES)

In Part 4A, we had a look at the 'secret' declaration of the two agencies in God's redemption plan as God spoke out referring to the stars and the sand in the promise He made with Abraham in Gen.22:15-17. In this 'part B' we'll investigate the differences between Israel and The Body of Christ (BoC) in regards to their role within God's plan.

The contrast between Israel and the Body of Christ cannot be more apparent. Israel's 'active' time during God's redemption plan was from Abraham to Paul's conversion. The BoC has been 'active' for the last 2000 years (approx) and during the period of God's grace. The two charts below provide a visual aid of the periods.

Israel's active time period

The Body of Christ active time period

Understanding and Interpreting the Bible (Part 4A)

Understanding and Interpreting the Bible

(Part 4A --- Dividing the AGENCIES)

Dividing the REALMS, defined in the previous post of this series, by phrases like, heaven and earth, and spiritual and physical, provide an understanding of the end point of God's great redemption plan. However, leading up to this end point, there will be an agency to occupy the heavens and fill it with the glory of Jesus Christ, and there will be an agency to occupy the earth and fill it with the glory of Jesus Christ. The end of it all would be as the scriptures say,

Col.1:19-20 For God [the Father] was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him [Christ], 20 and through Him [Christ] to reconcile to Himself [the Father] all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood* of His [Christ] cross.

Understanding and Interpreting the Bible (Part 1A)

Understanding and Interpreting the Bible

(Part 1A --- Recognizing the NECESSITY of dividing the Word)

In our previous study, we had a look at the two verses below, analyzing the contents of the verses to understand it properly. In this new study, I'd like to use the colour divisions in them to introduce a new, and very important topic. I'll make the topic clear as we progress in this post, but let's first look at the context of the two passages below, specifically based on their colour legends.

(Focus on the Return)

1 Thess.4:16-17 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, (<-- 7-yr Trib. -->) with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

(Focus on the Rapture Event)

1 Cor.15:51-22 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed [raptured], 52 In a moment, (<-- 7-yr Trib. -->) in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

(Colour Legend)

Israel: 2nd Coming in Clouds with trumpet and resurrection

Body of Christ: Silent rapture with no visual events

OBS: ACTS - The Transition (Part 5 - Insights into the New Covenant)

OBS: ACTS, The Transition (Part 5) The focus is not so much on studying Acts, as it is on using the book to teach us about dispensation truths.

Acts 1:5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.

See the video lesson of this study here.

Insights into the New Covenant

OBS: God's Word is a Progressive Plan (Part.4)

OBS: God's Word is a Progressive Plan (Part.4)

This is Part 4 of the Series

Click here for Part 3

We continue our journey through this lesson series, gathering evidence to clearly show the distinctions between the parts of God's great redemption plan for humanity and creation. Recall that any plan or project has a start and an ending and that between the start and end one would typically have actions or events that drive you to the goal or what you want to achieve, being the ending! Each of these parts of the plan are foundational actions or events that have a part in the whole, but although they relate to each other to form the whole, they don't necessarily relate to each other in their details, or maybe I can state that they don't have the same steps or materials or qualities.